


There's Not Enough Love (But We Do What We Can)

by The_Black_Cat



Category: DCU (Comics), Power Rangers (2017), Wonder Woman (2017)
Genre: A Hot Mess Tho, Alternate Universe - No Powers, And Confident, And She's Smug, And smart, And stubborn, Billy's an Angel, But it's a slow burn, Diana Has Loads of Advise, Diana Is Trini's Mom, Diana's a Good Mom, F/F, From Trini's Perspective, Gamer Trini, Harley Likes to be Annoying, It's Just Life People, Ivy Is Protective, Jason Is Just sort of There, Kimberly Is a Mess, Like really slow, Sarcastic Trini, Sassy Trini, Smart Trini, The Author Is Trying In General, The Author Is Trying for Zero Angst, Timberly Endgame, Trini Has A Loving Family, Trini Has Anxiety Problems, Trini's Just Trying to Survive It All, Trini's a Dork, We'll See How It'll Turn Out, You've been warned, Zack Is an Ass, and he's good at it, and panic attacks, i don't really know how to tag this, she's trying, that's all there is to it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2019-07-27 06:23:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 51,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16213295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Black_Cat/pseuds/The_Black_Cat
Summary: It's Trini's last year of high school and she really hoped it would be a peaceful one. Instead, she has to deal with annoying friends, wannabe bullies, panic attacks, incompetent teachers, loving but overbearing aunts, ever-wise and sometimes cheeky mother, and that very annoying (and very pretty) cheerleader who always seems to pop up everywhere and who isn't afraid to call Trini out on her bullshit. Now Trini has to experience life at its fullest, whether she wants to or not. She'll be forced to reconsider her opinions, question her beliefs, push through her habits and test her patience with an unwanted (but very demanding) crush.ORThe sometimes funny, sometimes serious and hopefully not angsty no powers AU where Trini just wants to live her life and things keep getting in the way.Trigger warning: the story contains descriptions of anxiety and panic attacks.





	1. Dude! I live there too!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> I don't really know what to say here, but I want to say something, because it's been a while since I posted something, especially something longer, and I guess it's the nice thing to do. I assume you've all read the tags and the summary, but I'm going to say this again, anyways. This story follows Trini as she navigates her life with everything that comes with it. It's a slow burn, so don't come yelling at me when nothing remotely romantic happens around chapter seven. I'm going for an angst-free story, so it will probably be light-hearted and fun, nothing too serious, dramatic or daunting. The good thing is that if you are a geek, I think you're going to find yourself in this story, at least a little bit.
> 
> I hope to update regularly. For now, I'm setting it to twice a month as I am a university student and I do have a lot of responsibilities that come with my studies. This, unfortunately, doesn't leave me with as much time to write as I would like. I am asking for your patience and support, and for you not to pressure me (that is if you like the story) to post sooner, because I will most probably not be able to do so.
> 
> As I want everything to be okay and everyone to feel warned enough, I repeat that this story contains a character with anxiety disorder and at least one description of a panic attack. These warnings will be repeated at the beginning of the chapters which contain the possible triggers. If you do feel like you could be triggered by this, feel free to skip the chapter.
> 
> One last thing I want to mention is that I am not a native English speaker. English is a foreign language for me. I will most probably make mistakes, whether they are grammatical or stylistic, and I am very sorry for them in advance.
> 
> Now, please, enjoy!

There were many things Trini hated. Dressing up, pop songs, fake people, the colour pink, tomatoes, mice, spiders, scratchy handwriting other than her own, cheerleaders, stupidity, arguments, bullying, ignorance, injustice, maltreatment of others, homophobes and xenophobes, narrow-minded people, conflict, stuck-up rich girls who thought they were the most important people in the world, daddy’s little girls, arrogance, misplaced pens, messily done laundry, strawberry ice-cream, bubblegum with a flavour other than menthol, those weird cars that looked like boxes that she didn’t even care to remember the name of, the strange feeling of vulnerability she felt whenever she had to wear a skirt, the sensation of being followed, the feeling of cold water on her belly, awkward situations, late night memories of awkward situations, lying, talking to strangers, the Eragon movie, sweet popcorn, dancing, boy bands, white chocolate... the list goes on and on and on and seems never-ending. But in that exact moment, there was nothing she hated more than that stupid person.

“Mother-banger!” she yelled, staring at the avatar running away from her own on her PC screen. After he raided her prize! She fought a bunch of guys (NPCs, but still, the point stands) to get to that spaceship, and then that--that--that person comes and plant the explosives just before she finished the last guy! How rude is that?! Couldn’t that player just wait? She always waited for her mission objective when another player got to it first, why couldn't other people do the same? “Stupid! Idiotic! Son of a witch! You had to do that, just had to! You can thank the Force this isn't a PvP server, or you would be dead before you could say ‘My Lord’! You’d be so dead for this, you thick-skulled Neanderthal!”

“Whoa, hey, what did I do?” came a familiar voice from her headset. A quick glance at the chat window confirmed what she already knew--her best gaming buddy was on-line.

“Not you, Zack. Unless you steal other people's spoils of war.”

“Ah. Consider me agreeing, that person is a major dick.”

“Zack,” Trini warned in a growl.

“You know, Crazy Girl, for someone so liberal at so many things, you sure are a spoil sport when it comes to swearing,” Zack's voice rang through the headphones. Trini was usually quite sensitive to criticism, though she'd never admit it to anyone, no matter what kind of terrible, horrifying torture they'd put her through, but through the years of friendship, she's learnt to pick up on the teasing tone in Zack's voice, and she's learnt to not take him seriously when that tone was used. It took her some time, they did 'meet' when Trini was still figuring herself out (not that she wasn't still in that phase, but she knew more about herself, and she was more confident with who she was than back then) and was insecure, and all too happy to hide in the anonymity of the Internet and content to drive the annoying thoughts in her head out by playing games. She met Zack in a particularly vicious group PvP instance of SWTOR, where they were grouped together. She didn't pay him any mind, didn't even think anything of his performance, except a fleeting thought that he was one of the few tank players that knew how to tank. After they'd met in eight different war-zones scattered through five days, he fired her a 'this can't be a coincidence' message. At first, she ignored him. After a few more messages, she answered him, but was pretty distant, offered only short answers and she never revealed anything about herself. But Zack was nothing if not persistent, and the more they played together, the more comfortable she got with him. He kept talking even when she didn't answer, and it only got worse once they started using Discord for gaming, and he wouldn't stop no matter how silent Trini was being. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Zack was very, very perceptive, another thing she would never admit out loud under any torture, and he learnt to read her silences just as well as she's learnt to read his voice. He did himself a service by that, really. Now, he could tell the difference between the ‘you can talk my ears off'’ silence and the ‘do not say a single word until you have triple-checked that you are completely sure you absolutely have to say something, and if that's the case, make it last less than thirty seconds’ silence. This ability of his and the fact that he was a really good tank made for a beautiful, blooming friendship.

Of course, things weren't always sunshines and puppies and cotton-candy. Trini was an angsty teenager with anxiety issues, occasional panic attacks and a pretty severe case of lack of trust. She's never been able to get close to anyone, except her mom, Zack, her two aunts and her uncle, she didn't have friends at school, she didn't have friends out of school, and she just kind of liked being alone. It started with kids at elementary school making fun of her for only having an adoptive mother, then they laughed at her for being Mexican, then for being smaller, usually the smallest kid around. Talking to her mom and then the headmaster didn't help, it only made the kids laugh at her for being a crybaby. And so, after three years in that school, her mom decided it was time to change the scenery. They packed up and moved half the country away. That didn't help, though. In the three years she spent at her second school, childish teasing turned into hateful sneers and jeers and then into all-out bullying. Everything about her was mentioned, from her origins, to her being adopted by a single woman, to her preference in slightly baggy and not at all girly clothes, to her silent nature, to her intelligence and gaming affinity, to her love for sarcasm, to the possibility that she might be gay. And while she now knew none of that was anything to be ashamed of, thirteen years old Trini thought being hated or ignored by the majority of the student body was the worst thing that could happen to a person. And so, her mom told her to pack her things and they moved again. And again. And again. Of course, each of those times Trini had a long conversation with her mom, and with her aunts, about how nothing of what those kids bullied her for was a bad thing and how she should feel proud of who she was and what she liked. The older she got, the more things were added to that speech, like being who she was didn't make her evil, and as long as she wasn't an asshat, a jerk or generally a bad person, she should be proud of herself because just by that she's achieved more than all those kids ever would. And surely enough, Trini believed her mom, because she knew she was right, and besides, who else was she supposed to believe? Those stupid cheerleading mean girls? Yeah, not gonna happen.

Because sure, she wasn't perfect. She was flawed just like everyone else in this cursed world, but she wasn't a bad person and she wasn't stupid. She knew her worth. It did take damned long time of self-doubt and one very strong, but not at all unexpected 'oh shit I'm gay' moment, but she got through it and now she could say it brought her a confidence boost (nothing major, she never was outgoing, but she learnt how to stand her own). She felt good and comfortable with the person she became, or was becoming, since she was still only seventeen and still in development. She was content with herself, and her mom and Zack had both a role to play in all that, which she was eternally grateful for, but would never admit it.

“...and I got detention. You should do something stupid, too, so we could be in detention together!”

Oh, right. Zack was still talking. Not that she was surprised.

“Okay, first of all, I don't do stupid stuff, that's your area of expertise. And second, we don't even live in the same city, we don't go to the same school, we couldn't get detention together if we tried. Besides, it's only the first week of school, how did you get detention already?”

“I just explained it, weren't you listening to me?”

“Since when is that required?”

Zack hissed like he burned himself on something. “Harsh, Crazy Girl. I thought you loved me.”

“Didn't know you were delusional on top of the crazy,” Trini said nonchalantly.

Zack muttered something she couldn't make out, perhaps it was even in Mandarin, and then silence took over. They got to doing a flashpoint, a one they've done about a million times and knew so well they could make it with their eyes closed. When they were about halfway done, it was surprisingly Trini who broke the silence.

“Hey, Zack?”

“Hmm?”

“How's your mom?” she asked, her tone somewhere between concerned and casual. Zack told her about his mom slightly more than a year into their friendship. When Mrs. Taylor had Zack, she was older than Chinese women usually were when having kids. She was in her late thirties when he was born, and since she wasn't married and she refused to tell anyone who Zack's father was, she had to leave the community she had grown up in, because according to what Zack told her, having kids while single was a great shame for her family. So she packed herself and her daughter, whom she had had with her now deceased husband, fled her home, had her baby boy and, as Zack had put it one time when they had a beer-Skype session, she was the best mom. Trini would have argued that her mom was the best, because she kind of was, but from what she heard of Mrs. Taylor, Trini liked her and had a great deal of respect for her. But, some four years ago, Mrs. Taylor got sick. Trini didn't know the details, Zack never shared and she never asked, but she did know Mrs. Taylor was on a bed rest and couldn't go to work. So Zack took it upon himself to take care of her. Well, that was until Zack's sister, Lucy, a young and quite successful dentist (at least that's what Zack said), didn't take over and was now financially helping them. Zack still did occasional work here and there, mostly during weekdays so he would miss school, but mostly he just took care of his mom, which took up most of his time. Trini admired his resolution and strength, and his sense of humour for not dying out in the harsh times.

“Still the best,” Zack said, a smile clearly audible in his voice, “but yeah, she's good. The new medication Lucy bought is helping a lot. We've been to the park yesterday. And she even made it to the bathroom on her own, didn't even need to steady herself on the furniture. She was so happy after that she let me win our chess game.”

Trini smiled at the mental image. “That sounds amazing. Tell her I said hi, will you?”

“Will do. And how's your mom?”

“Ah, she's fine. Getting ready for the move and that big transfer to UCSF. I still don't understand why we aren't moving directly to San Francisco, she'd have it easier to get to work, and there are high schools everywhere there, it's not like enrolling me would be a problem. But I guess she got a good enough deal at the University, she'll only be there once a week or so.”  
Zack whistled. “What will she do for the rest of the week?”

“Said something about publishing activity and research. That means she'll be buried in books and old letters and antiquities, the real ones, from like, anytime between the third century BC to the eighteenth century AD. But she said she'll mostly do it from home, so that's a plus.”

“You know, you're the only teenager I know who's happy their mom will be home most of the days.”

“I love my mom, of course I'm happy.”

“You're also the only teenager to ever admit that out loud. Besides me.”  
Trini decided not to dignify that with an answer and a comfortable silence spread between them, like so many times before. Trini knew it would be short lived, because Zack couldn't keep his mouth shut if his life depended on it. Well, maybe if that was really the case, he would stay quiet, but that would mean he didn't take her threats of torture and death seriously, and even though she knew that was the most probable option—alright, it was the only option—she still liked to think Zack just wasn't afraid to die. Not because it would make him look cool or bring her some inexplicable sense of comfort, it did neither, but because it did far less of a blow to her ego than him not being afraid of her. It was selfish and probably had something to do with the bullying induced inferiority complex or height complex, or some other psychological mambo-jumbo Trini knew nothing about, but that didn't stop her from thinking that way. She already had diagnosed anxiety problems and panic attacks, she could deal with some doctor or another thinking she had complexes (who in this world did not have those?).

She was startled out of her thoughts when something big and furry jumped into her lap, and she was forced to let out a high-pitched yelp when said something slotted its sharp claws into her yoga-pants clad thighs. The sound of loud, content purring then filled the air and instantly started calming Trini's wild beating heart.

“What was that girlish sound, Crazy Girl?” came Zack's teasing voice, prompting Trini to let out a silent growl into the microphone.

“I'll have you know, Taylor, I am a girl, I am allowed to make girlish sounds. And if there was a big feline digging his claws into your thighs, I bet you'd squeal like a five years old in a haunted house.”

“That's bullshit, your cat loves me.”

“He hasn't even met you and he hates you.”

“No one hates me, I'm unhatable.”

“Pretty sure that's not a word,” Trini drawled out the first word, “and he hisses every time he hears your voice.”

“So do you and you love me.”

“Don't overdo it, I tolerate you. Barely.”

“You're just grumpy 'coz I have a proof you're not heartless,” Zack said in a victorious voice.

“I'm very well aware of my heart. Pumps blood into the rest of my body and I'd die without it. Therefore, I call your argument null and void.”

“Fine, feelingless! Better?”

“Not really, I have feelings. Hunger, for example.”

Zack scoffed. “Hunger only signifies the need to feed, which is a base human need, so it's not a feeling.”

“You feel hungry, it's a feeling, so I have feelings and thus am not feelingless, as you put it, which I'm pretty sure is not a real word, either. I win,” Trini smirked. She had to abandon the keyboard for a moment in favour of scratching the tabby cat behind his ears when he dug his claws especially deep in what she interpreted as a demand. Since he stopped clawing at her after that and he started purring rather loudly, she decided she must have been right in her assumption.

“Just because ya momma is some fancy-ass lawyer—”

“She's a historian, you oaf,” she cut him off in the middle of the sentence.

“’S what I said. Just because you've been raised by a university professor, you don't have to win every argument.”

“These are not arguments, they are debates. And I'm winning them because I'm smart.”

“You just said I'm an idiot, which I'm not, so being smarter than me doesn't make you smart.”

“If you really were not an idiot, which I didn't call you, by the way, you would have noticed that I said I'm smart, not that I'm smarter than you. I didn't compare us,” this time, it was Trini's turn to feel victorious.

The cat in her lap mewled, as if it was agreeing with his owner. “Hear that? Even Mr. Cat agrees with me!”

“He doesn't, he loves me! He just has to make it look like he agrees with you, cause you're the hooman who gives him food. I'd agree with Palpatine if he were my food-bearer.”

“Foodbea-what?! You know, sometimes I thing you're pretty cool and then you have to go an ruin it by saying something like this. No wonder you still don't have a girlfriend.”

“And why don’t you have one?” Zack fired back, but Trini didn’t bite. She wasn’t going to let him provoke her with that.

There was a short silence in which they finished the flashpoint and started a new one. Mr. Cat, accurately named by a six years old Trini, was contently purring in his hooman's lap, drooling on her like he usually did. She could hear the clacking and banging that came with packing the kitchen into boxes. Trini had offered her to help her mom with the packing that morning, but she was told to go pack her own things instead. Since she'd been packed for two days already, and nothing else needed to be taken care of, Trini used the time to game a little. She'd like to think that after all the moving around the States, she wouldn't be nervous before a move, but that wasn't true. She was positively terrified.

Logically, she knew there was nothing to be afraid of. She's been through this three too many times. They would arrive a few hours before the truck, they'd use that time to get some ice-cream or a muffin, or some pastries and get to know the surroundings a bit, then they'd spend the next few days unpacking and trying to get used to the place, although Trini would always leave at least two boxes packed. The only thing to be afraid of was bullying, and when that happens, they will pack up and leave again. No biggie.

And yet, there was that fear, its icy claws embedded in her heart and lungs, not letting her breathe freely. Because as much as she hated to admit it, there was a part of her that hoped this time would be different. She hoped for a quiet year, where she wouldn't get called a filthy Mexican dyke on daily basis. She wished for someone who would eat lunch with her and make her laugh so hard she wouldn't be able to eat at all. She wished for warm smiles and hugs hello, or a secret handshake at her locker. She wished for all those stupid things that friends who knew each other in real life, not only through on-line games and voice chats, do. She wished for a connection to someone other than her mom. Now don't take her wrong, she loved her mom to death and she loved talking to her, because her mom was the best and she understood Trini like no one else (well, maybe besides her aunts, who were also the best). But she wanted that something with someone, that feeling of safety and acceptance and the situations one could only experience with friends.

All her previous experience told her she was being stupid. Yet, she still found herself wishing for her very own group of friends, not matter how small or how misfit.

As if sensing her thoughts, Zack asked: “So, Crazy Girl, you ready for the next move?”

“All packed and ready to go.”

“Just like that? Aren't you going to miss Great Falls?”

“Nah,” Trini said dismissively, “I've had enough of this place.”

“I knew it wasn't your favourite, but there must be something you like!”

“Eh, the house is nice, I guess. Other than that, no thanks. Ignorant, narrow-minded, Bantha-poop-heads are not my favourite kind of people.”

“Yeah, I hear ya. So, where to now?”

“Some middle-of-nowhere small town in California.”

Zack made a humming noise. “Those aren't that bad.”

“I'm kinda worried. Y'know, small towns, small minds.”

“That's not always true. I live in a small town and the people are pretty accepting. Well, we have about five openly gay people at school and nobody seems to mind, so... anyways, what is the middle-of-nowhere small town called?”

“Not sure. Angel Grave? Angel Dove? Had something to do with angels.”

“Angel Grove?”

“Yep, that sounds like it.”

“Holy shit!” Zack gasped. Then he squealed like a five years old in a haunted house. “Dude! That's where I live!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that’s it for the first chapter! I know it isn’t much, but I hope you guys enjoyed it anyways! If you did, feel free to leave kudos and tell me all about what you liked/disliked in the comments below. You can also find me on tumblr under justalittlewritingnerd if you want to talk about the story, or just talk in general. I’ll be happy to read from you!
> 
> I’m thinking of posting the second chapter sooner than in a month’s time, to give you a better feel of the story, but I fear it’s not gonna go much as it is the slowest burn I’ve ever written. Let me know if you want the chapter sooner and I’ll see what I can do!
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans! (Kidding, I don’t even know who you are and I already love you all!)


	2. You're the cutest!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> I want to thank everyone who left kudos and comments on the first chapter, you've really made my day (well, week)! 
> 
> This chapter is a little shorter, but I hope you'll like it anyways! For those of you who hope for Zack's appearance, I'm sorry to disappoint you. He was supposed to be in this chapter, originally, but it got too long (around 5000 words), so I decided to split it and focus on Trini and her relationship with her mom instead. Zack will appear, in the next chapter, though, I promise!
> 
> Alright, enough said! Enjoy!

The car ride to Angel Grove was a rather strange experience. It was quiet, the content rumble of the Mustang’s engine and the soft, jazzy music her mom liked so much were the only sounds in the otherwise silent space of the car. Trini was in perhaps one of the strangest states she’s ever been in. On one hand, she was positively vibrating with the excitement and the foreign happiness at the prospect of living somewhere where she already knew somebody, where there was someone she would dare to call a friend (although she would never tell that to Zack face-to-face, of course, she didn’t want his ego to grow even bigger). On the other hand, she was completely still, almost lethargic, because there was someone, someone other than her mom who might care for her on some level, and though she has known Zack for three years, it was different, less personal, because they’ve never met before, and the whole idea of having someone was rather unsettling for her loner self. The combination of the two made her muscles clench into painful, throbbing knots. Her body felt like a mix of jello and marble, and there was a tightness in her chest that made her feel like her shirt was trying to suffocate her by pressing too hard on her chest.

Her mom was watching her, she could feel the stolen glances like she would feel a caress on the cheek. Of course, her mom knew about Zack and she also seemed to know that Trini was anxious and nervous and so freaking excited for this particular move. Trini knew that her mom was excited for her, maybe as much as Trini herself. Maybe Trini’ll finally have a friend! According to what Zack said, he was about her age, only a few months older than her but that was whatever, and they’d be going to some of the classes together. Sure, she knew the Internet was a bad and untrustworthy place, and if they haven’t skyped with the cameras on (and if she hadn’t Facebook and Instagram stalked him one night when her mom and she still lived in Florida), she, and her mom, would have been way more cautious. But as it were, she was excited and her mom knew (her mom also talked to Zack a few times when she walked into Trini’s room during their calls). 

Her mom who had a body of a supermodel and a heart of gold. 

Her mom who was now looking at her intently. 

Trini didn’t even notice they stopped at a red light until now.

“Are you all right, little one?” she asked, her voice warm like it usually was when she spoke to Trini, but also laced with poorly hidden concern. Her mom often wore her heart on her sleeve around Trini, mostly due to their rules of honesty and possibility to confide in each other. Trini loved those rules because there was nothing she wanted to hide from her mom and she knew her mom wasn’t hiding anything from her. It was amazing, especially when she sometimes overheard how strained relationships some other kids have with their parents. 

A stiff nod was all Trini could offer as an answer. 

“Are you looking forward to meeting Zack?”

Again, Trini’s only answer was a stiff nod. 

“You’re nervous and unsure,” although it was meant as a question, to Trini it sounded more like a statement. “You know there are no expectations, no obligations. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“I know,” Trini choked out with another stiff nod. The car moved again when the light turned green, and they entered the town. Trini felt a slight pinch of satisfaction when she realised that the town was exactly what she expected it to be. It was a typical American small town that one can see in the typical American comedies, with typical American stores and typical American houses, and typical American people doing typical American things. The only difference between the people she saw and the people in the comedies was that these people were stopping in their tracks to stare at their car. Then again, everyone would stop and stare if there was a midnight-blue metallic 2017 Ford Mustang GT riding down the street like it owned the place. And every one of those people will stop and stare at her mom once she gets out of the car and starts walking down the street like she owns the place, as only her mom could. 

There was a part of Trini that enjoyed the envious looks, the wishful thinking clear on the teenaged boys’, and some girls’, faces as they watched the car pass them by. But another part of her, the more insecure and anxious part, wished her mom had chosen a different, less extravagant, and less expensive, car. Really, what was wrong with an old, beat up pick-up? Now, if those kids notice her when her mom drives her to school (which they will, because of course they will notice a car like that), if they see her getting out of that car on Monday, they will automatically add ‘stuck up with’ to the list of names to call her. And it already was a pretty long list. 

When they stopped at another red light, her mom took Trini’s hand into her own. “I’m here for you, little one. I always will be.”

“Thanks, mom.”

With a reassuring squeeze of her hand, her mom let her go and turned back to the road in front of them. Trini watched the buildings, trees and people they passed by as they rode on through the town, taking turns and occasionally stopping at the traffic lights, or when someone decided they wanted to just cross the street without a care in the world. Everything looked like what someone might expect from a small town. 

Their house was located in what looked to be a quiet neighbourhood. The street was lined with a walkway and an alley of trees on both sides. All the houses had two stories and were painted in one or two soft, pastel colours that made the whole street look fairly welcoming and pleasing to the eye. They stopped roughly in the middle of it, in front of a house with a somewhat untrimmed lawn, brown, wood-like garage doors and walls in warm, peachy orange. Trini noticed the colourful windows on the upper level, which was one thing she’s never seen in any of the places they’ve lived in. They both got out of the car and both went to the trunk to retrieve things from there. Trini’s mom took four bags, two into each hand, while Trini took her own duffel-bag, her messenger bag and Mr Cat in his container. After that, the trunk was closed, the car was locked and mother and daughter stood shoulder to shoulder, or, well, in their case, shoulder to arm, and stared at the house.

The first few times they moved, Trini’s mom would always say something encouraging, something to do with new beginnings and hopes. Now, she just looked at Trini, smiled that small, hopeful smile and walked towards the front door, with her daughter trailing after her. 

The house looked way bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. There was no furniture so it all seemed spacious and airy. There was only a small hall divided by a small, thin wall which basically begged to have a rack put on it from a big room with an empty, cold-looking fireplace and a ceiling-to-floor French windows, with the potential to become the living room. Straight ahead was an L-shaped staircase leading to the upper level, and what could be considered a hallway, which joined together the entrance hall, the potential-living-room and a smaller room behind it, which will no doubt be kitchen in a few hours, only separated from the rest of the floor by quite a long breakfast bar. All in all, it seemed like a nice place. Well, Trini’s idea of what it might be like when they put the furniture and those stupid little trinkets her mom insisted they needed in there looked like a nice place. 

Her mom put the bags down in the corner of the big room and looked at Trini expectantly. “Well? What do you think?”

“Same I did when you showed me the photos,” Trini shrugged before she opened the door to Mr Cat’s container. He was still asleep from the pill they gave him, but it should wear off in an hour or two and she didn’t want to keep him closed up in there, in case he woke up sooner. “It’s empty.”

“But it has potential! If we put one bookshelf over here and the other around here, we could put the glass cupboard there, the wine rack there, then the commode could go here, we could put the TV right there, the piano over there, and the sofa could go here, and—oh!—we need to get the fireplace rimmed! Then we could get some white curtains for the windows…” her mom talked excitedly as she walked around the room, pointing out the places where they could put various items. Trini just watched from her spot in the entryway. She always loved how excited and happy her mom could get from the smallest of things, things that Trini didn’t even see or didn’t understand, like paperweights or arranging and re-arranging the furniture in the house. Her eyes would sparkle like a five years old’s at Christmas morning and her smile would shine brighter than any light-bulb in the room. It was heartwarming to see her like that. 

One glance at her wrist-watch was enough to tell Trini it was time to stop daydreaming about what the house could be like start moving. “Mom, we should get going if we don’t want to make Zack wait.” 

Her mom stopped, her hands still in the air, still pointing at one of the walls, and she just stared. And then, she smiled, a soft, caring smile that conveyed love and concern. “Are you sure you want me there?”

“I’m meeting a guy who I’ve been speaking to for the past three years for the first time in real life, in a completely foreign town I didn’t even know existed a few weeks ago and I’m nervous and terrified. Of course I want you there.”

“Well then,” fixing the already perfectly fitting blouse on her shoulders, her mom straightened her body into her full height, which would make them look rather comically together. “Let’s go. We’ll find this park, meet with Zack and get some ice-cream. Mr Cat should be fine in here for another hour or so.”

Trini shrugged and pulled her flannel shirt tighter around herself. Like always, her mom recognised it as a sign of rising levels of anxiety and nervousness, and like always, Trini found herself wrapped in a warm, secure hug. She let out a breath, burrowing her face into her mother’s chest, and gripped on her blouse at the sides, holding on like the material was a lifeline. She’s been suppressing all that stress inside of herself for a few days now, she knew the pent-up emotions would need to be released, and she needed to do it soon, else they would overwhelm her, like they did so many times before. But not yet. She could fight it, for just a little bit longer. 

“Hey, mom? Can you not go all overprotective mother on him and scare him away? He’s kinda the only friend I have, other than you.”

“I would never!” her mom faked an offended gasp. “And I’m not overprotective.”

“Mom,” Trini said the word like someone would say ‘oh, really?’—filled to the brim with disbelieving sarcasm. She released her hold on her mother’s blouse and the two detached themselves from each other, making their way for the front door. “You’ve learnt the names, effects and antidotes for every single poisonous or otherwise dangerous plant I could come into contact with, and what to do if I did come into contact with it. That goes beyond mothers learning the first aid in case their kid ate some washing powder.” 

“You were an adventurous child!” her mom laughed in her defence. “I had to make sure I could protect you if need be. I wouldn’t let anything happen to my daughter! And I’ll let you know, your aunt also had a hand in that, she told me about so many poisonous plants I was almost afraid to go out of the house myself!”

“Not overprotective, she said.”

“Fine, maybe I am a little protective of you, so what? I am allowed to do that!”

“You almost tore a hole in Tim Cormer’s mother for saying my costume was stupid and childish.”

“Nobody’s going to hate on my daughter!”

“I was in second grade, mom, and my costume was home-made. I had an old bed-sheet wrapped around me like a toga, I had green, carton ears sticking out of my head and my cheeks were painted green. Of course it was stupid and childish.”

“Nothing of that gave her the right to hate on you,” said her mom stubbornly, “and besides, you were a cute Yoda. You even spoke like him! All ‘hard to see the dark side is’! How cute is that!”

“I’m not cute,” Trini protested. 

“You’re tiny and you pout. You’re the cutest!”

Instead of a reply, Trini only groaned, which got her a one-arm hug from her mom. They were walking down the street, Trini’s mom leading them through the town like she’s been there at least ten times already, as they continued the banter like they sometimes enjoyed to do. They passed people, dogs, trees and houses on their way (Trini would swear she’s seen a squirrel on one of those trees), and she couldn’t shake the feeling that they were all watching her, judging her, making assumptions and decisions about her (even the squirrel. Especially the squirrel). The thought made her throat clench and a strange, but not unfamiliar pressure push on her chest. She gulped to try and swallow the feeling down, to push it into her stomach, but she could still feel the uneasiness in her limbs, the nervousness in her muscles. 

When they entered the park, separated from the town by a black, metal fence placed in a white, wall base, the nervous clench in her body lessened. Behind the fence, there was only grass and gravel paths and wooden benches, no concrete or asphalt, no trace of town that lay outside. It held a sense of calmness, but there was a strange energy there, too, the air was filled with laughter and yelling of children, a murmur of a small brook zig-zagging through the grass, barking of dogs and quiet conversations. On the far end, the park grew into a forest which then continued into a hill towering above the town. 

This, Trini decided, was possibly the best place to meet someone she’s known for years for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for today. For those of you who are interested in more information about the story, maybe even a sneak-peek or two, or if you just wanna chat, you can follow me on my Tumblr on justalittlewritingnerd.tumblr.com. 
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	3. I'm calling you Tiny!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> Yes, I know, posting another chapter in under 16 hours goes against my set schedule. But the last one seemed insufficient and I, as a writer, couldn't just keep it like that for long. So yes, I've spent the whole night writing and re-writing and proof-reading and editing chapter three to be able to deliver it as soon as possible, and here it is! And guess what? It's Zack time!
> 
> Enjoy!

They followed one of the paths, the gravel making a hard, growling noise each time one of their feet would fall down onto it Trini used to like because to her, it used to sound like there was an army walking behind her, matching her step for step. There were more people there then there were in the town. Kids and dogs were running around, teenagers were sitting in the grass, enjoying the shade provided by the tall trees, the older people sat on the benches and enjoyed the sunlight.

They spotted Zack further down the trail. He was, just like he said he would be, sitting on the backrest of one of the benches, in a tight black T-shirt and black jeans. He ran his hands through his short, black hair and turned his face towards them. He instantly lit up like a match, a smile splitting his face, and before Trini knew it, he leapt from his seat and scooped her up in a bear-hug.

“Crazy Girl! Holy cheese on a cracker, you’re tiny! Okay, it’s official, I’m calling you Tiny!”

Trini let out an annoyed huff, although she was gripping his T-shirt as strongly as she could in her fists. She didn’t necessarily like bodily contact, not from people she only just met, anyway (although sometimes she was a cuddle-monster, as her mom sometimes called her with all the adoration in the world), but his hug was genuine and warm and safe, and it quenched the anxiety somewhat, and for some reason he felt familiar. She decided she liked his hugs. Not enough to make them a daily occurrence, but certainly enough not to kick him in the kneecap.

“You know how I asked you not to scare him away?” Trini only half-pretended to choke out, looking up to her mom, who was watching the exchange with a warm fondness in her face. “I’ve changed my mind. Scare him away, please!”

Her mom only chuckled, which caused Zack to let go and look at her like he just noticed her. He let out a long whistle. “Wow. Hey, Tiny, I thought you didn’t have friends.”

“I don’t. This is my mom.”

“Your—your mom! But—that’s, ehm… yes…” Zack sputtered, eyes wide and jaw slack. He looked from Trini to her mom and back. “ Wait, wait, this is the mom? Like the best mom who bakes the best cookies and takes you places just because?”

“You have seen her when we skyped,” Trini rolled her eyes at him. She noticed her mom lowering her head slightly, cheeks colouring with a soft blush.

“I didn’t! I only heard her, never saw her!”

Ah, that explained it. “Well then,” Trini shrugged, “this is my mom. Mom, this is Zack, apparently.”

Her mom quickly regained her composure and offered her hand to Zack for a handshake. “Diana Prince. Pleased to meet you.”

Without missing a beat, Zack took her hand and shook it firmly. “Zachary Taylor. The pleasure’s all mine.”

Zack then showed them an ice-cream parole and, after a brief argument and a stern look from Diana, got the treat with them and let them pay for it. Then they just wandered about the park while Zack showed them around and told them about the town. He showed them a path that led from the park up into the forest and into the gold mine that was, according to him, abandoned, and he showed them she shortest was to school, which was directly across the street from the park.

“The school’s not so bad,” he mused. “There are a few cranky teachers, and the principal tries to get into every decent-looking mother’s pants, but overall, it’s not bad.”

“Sounds charming,” Trini remarked dryly.

“Oh, it’s a lot of fun, too! We have a football field and a pretty wicked gym. Speaking of pretty, we have the prettiest cheerleaders!” he winked at Trini there, to which she only rolled her eyes. She hated cheerleaders. “There’s a good library behind the school, at least that’s what the nerds say. There’s a choir and a school band… But! What is essential for you to know is that there are only five types of kids in the school. There are the jocks, stupid, mindless, only interested in sports and girls. Or boys, depending on whether we talk about the boy teams or girl teams. Then again, if we speak about the softball team, they are all about girls, too. Anyway! We have cheerleaders, always pretty, not always dumb, always worrying about chipped nails, school hierarchy, looking sexy and making ordinary kids’ lives a living hell. Then there are the nerds, but they are not our kind of nerds, no, we’re effortlessly smart, amazingly sexy and dashingly beautiful, they are… well, they are nerds. They don’t see past their math textbook and I’m pretty sure at least two of them have to wear diapers at eighteen years old. Ugh… anyway, then there’s me, the best kind, of course. And then there’s Billy Cranston.”

“One, overgeneralising, much? Two, I get why you get your own category,” she eyed him pointedly, “but what about this Billy boy?”

“’Coz he’s kind of weird, according to the general population of the school. Well, he is weird, but I think he’s cool! Crazy smart, like, he knows about stuff I don’t even know exist!”

“Not that difficult…” Trini remarked, getting a disapproving look from her mom.

“Hey! Okay, you’re right, but still! Anyway, the kid’s amazing. He made his lunch box explode, how cool’s that? And he’s really sweet, like, he’s the kind of guy who would offer you his cookie when he sees you are feeling down even if he doesn’t know you. The others make fun of him, though. Say he’s weird ‘coz he doesn’t laugh at their stupid jokes. But I only really saw him speaking to others, and they were jerks to him, I don’t know him personally.”

Trini grumbled in annoyance and Zack made a noise of agreement. Diana’s phone chimed with a call, to which she excused herself and walked a little bit further away from them to take it. Trini already knew what it would say. It only took a moment for Diana to sort things out, and she returned with a regretful smile on her face. “I’m sorry, little one, the truck is here, I have to go.”

“I’ll go with.”

“No, you stay with Zack and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow, you’re helping me with the furnishing.”

“I can help, too!” Zack offered. “My sister is taking my mom to San Francisco tomorrow morning for hospital treatment, so I’m free for the rest of the week.”

“That’s very sweet of you, but we couldn’t ask you to do that,” Diana instantly said.

“You aren’t asking, Miss Prince. Besides, I doubt Tiny here would be much help with the heavy lifting you might still have to do,” he said cheekily, poking Trini in the side with his finger.

“You’d be surprised. She’s quite strong.”

“And I took kickboxing and aikido, I could kick your butt in seconds,” Trini chimed in, with a proud smirk firmly plastered on her face.

“Don’t know what that second thing is, but it sounded tasty, can you cook it?”

“It’s a martial art, you dumb mastodon.”

“Trini,” Diana warned. One of the things Trini was thought from a young age was respect and politeness, and that meant no name-calling, no matter how much of an arsehole a person was. Usually, Trini didn’t swear, not even when she was angry, and she didn’t call people names, like, ever, but Zack just seemed to have a way to get under her skin and make her want to call him names. Affectionately, of course.

“I’d say I was sorry but I was taught to only apologise for the things I really regret.”

“I don’t like the cheekiness of your tone, Trini,” Diana said as cheekily as her daughter did a moment ago.

“Yeah, I don’t like it either, Tiny,” Zack joined in with a smirk on his face.

“I can’t call you a jerk, so you’ll just have to imagine it.”

While this didn’t get her a verbal reminder, she did get a look from her mom. She shrugged and turned her back to Zack. “Gotta go, homeboy.”

“So you don’t want my help with moving?”

Trini let out a sigh, pondering her options. She could tell him no, do all the additional moving and decorating alone with her mom, like they always did. On the other hand, she could take Zack up on his offer and make him do all the dirty work and heavy lifting and she could enjoy being the lazy taskmaster. And maybe it would get Zack to shut up. But what made her decide—and yes, it was, ultimately, her decision, because Diana would leave it up to her, because he was her friend and it was about her being comfortable—was the strangely warm feeling that spread in her chest when she imagined her only friend helping make her new home.

“I’ll give you the address.”

“And your phone number!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself!”

“C’mon, Tiny, don’t be mean!”

“I’m not mean, you’re too sensitive.”

“Tiny!” Zack whined.

“Don’t whine!” Trini said as she started walking in the direction of their new house. “And don’t call me Tiny!”

She could hear her mom chuckle out a goodbye and Zack yelling a “Bye, Ms P!” in return.

They were already on their street when Diana hummed thoughtfully. Trini glanced up at her expectantly, but she remained silent. She sighed. Trini knew her mom had something to say, she’s formed an opinion on the boy and usually, Diana had an amazing read on people. However, it seemed like she didn’t want to share that opinion and the reluctance filled Trini’s chest with a cold pressure. What if her mom didn’t like Zack? She wouldn’t force Trini to stop gaming with him, or even meeting him, but what if she didn’t approve? Her mom’s opinion was vary important to Trini, and she would probably stop end the friendship if her mom told her she didn’t like him. Not that her mom would make her, no matter what her thoughts on Zack were.

“So?”

“Hmm?”

“Whatcha think?”

“Why are you under the impression that I think something?”

“You always think something, and when you don’t say anything about it, you usually think something bad that you think I wouldn’t like hearing.”

“I’m not thinking anything bad, little one. I just think that Zack is…” here Diana cut herself off. She stayed silent for a second or two, then she hummed pensively and looked at her daughter from the corner of her eye with a smile. “He’s intense. He’s wild, untamed. He’ll be good for you, little one.”

“Wait, did I just hear you say that a heathen hell-raiser would be good for me?”

“I trust you know the difference between harmless mischief and law-breaking hell-raising. Besides, he’ll get you out of your comfort zone, out of your shell. And hopefully, you’ll help keep him in line,” Diana said calmly like she was sure her words would come true. She bumped Trini’s side with her hip, then she wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing them closer. Trini could feel the last traces of anxiety disappear from her body at that act. “It’ll be good for you to have a friend so close.”

“I guess,” Trini shrugged. She tried to act unaffected, but she was somewhat excited at the prospect of having Zack just half a town away (yes, it was still quite a distance, but compared to before, it seemed irrelevant), and just that knowledge brought her an inexplicable sense of closeness.

When they arrived at their house, there was already a big, moving van parked in front of it. Diana instantly went into her Professor Prince mode, she straightened her back, let go of her daughter and walked towards the men with a polite, but guarded smile, while Trini loomed behind, watching her mom deal with the movers.

The first room to get its furniture moved in and placed exactly as she wanted it (courtesy of Diana’s persuasiveness) was Trini’s room. She had her bed, table, closets and commode, and all of her bookshelves put up within two hours. Her clothes, books, CDs and all of her stuff was supposed to arrive the next day, and so the room felt empty, impersonal. It had potential, though. It was L-shaped, with her own, small bathroom. Trini liked the light-yellow wall opposite the door, where the head of her bed was, together with a nightstand and a bookshelf. The second bookshelf rested next to the door to the bathroom. The third wall belonged to the window with a wicked sabre-tooth tiger made from different-coloured pieces of glass, the table with carefully placed pots with various cacti and other plants—courtesy of her aunt—her closet and the second bookshelf. She had the commode and the third bookshelf put around the door. All the small shelves were already put up, one above the commode, one above the bed. It left her with an empty space on one of the wall. She could already imagine it painted soft-brown and with various maps from the books she liked on it. All in all, it was a spacious room, but still needed work to be cosy and homey and roomy and hers enough for Trini to consider it her safe haven.

Sending a quick thank-you to her mom for the foresight of getting Internet connection before they arrived, Trini booted up her laptop and opened the SWTOR launcher, before she signed in to her Discord through her phone. Zack was already online when she logged in with her avatar, and he instantly invited her to do a flashpoint. He called her even before the instance loaded.

“Hey, Crazy Girl!” his voice boomed into her ears as soon as she put her headphones on.

“Stop yelling, I can hear you, homeboy.”

“Awww, c’mon, tell me you missed me,” he said in a tone suspiciously close to whining.

“Don’t even, I only came on to give you my address to that I can have you as my personal slave tomorrow.”

“And your phone number,” he chimed in.

“So that you’d be able to annoy me even when I’m not playing? You wish.”

“C’mon, Tiny!”

“I’ll punch you.”

“Through a computer screen?”

“You’re too annoying, you’ll find your way to me eventually, and then I’ll punch you.”

“You won’t be able to reach that high.”

“I only need to reach your crotch.”

There was a second’s worth of a pause before Zack responded. “You’d wanna touch that with your hand?”

“Eww! I said I’d punch you, not touch you.”

“Ouch. Harsh. Now, gimme the address.”

“So eager to get your punishment?”

“Kinky.”

“Not with you, homeboy,” Trini tries to suppress the smirk forming on her face, but she wasn’t entirely successful. She gave him the address. And her number.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it! I hope you liked it! Don't forget to comment, or you can find me on my Tumble under justalittlewritingnerd. I'd be happy to hear your thoughts and ideas! 
> 
> The next chapter should be out in about two-three weeks. I'll try for a reasonable updating schedule, we'll see how that goes.
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	4. Tell me the Twin Flame story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> I'm back! And with another chapter where nothing happens! I'm starting to feel like I would let you guys down if I actually let something happen in this story... But we're getting there! Slowly.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy it!

To her utmost surprise, though she herself wasn’t sure if it was a pleasant one or not, Trini found out that between her, her mom and Zack, even simple conversations were energetic, dynamic and tiring. Combined together with carrying around heavy boxes, unpacking, pushing around some pieces of furniture and painting the wall of her room, it was a recipe for exhaustion. They spent the whole Saturday together, getting the house to look homey and cosy and good enough for Diana and Trini to consider a home. Zack was, indeed, acting as Trini’s personal slave and she had him do everything from painting the wall in her room, mostly because he was stronger and taller than her, to pushing the sofa around the living room, which she had him do just for the fun of it, and even her mom let it go for a few moments before she stepped in, to helping to put the towels into the cupboard in the bathroom, which Trini enjoyed very much, mostly due to her mom’s strange quirk of putting the towels away a certain way because Zack just couldn’t get it done the way Diana wanted it done, and Trini found it hilarious to watch him try.

When they were properly tired and quite hungry, and when all the clothes and when all the kitchen stuff and bathroom stuff found their new homes, Diana took them out for a quick dinner at a local burger place. As it turned out, the three of them were like peas in a pod. Sure, it shouldn’t surprise Trini because somehow, she is very similar to her mom without actually being related to her, and Zack is pretty similar to herself, so it should be obvious that Zack and Diana would hit it off. Still, Trini found herself in a slight state of shock as she watched them interact. They laughed, joked around, the conversation was easy and Trini had to admit that it wasn’t in any way undesirable, but it did get to be… too much, at some points. Because Zack and Diana quickly found a symbiotic common ground for their relationship, out of which the biggest part was to tease Trini to the brink of insanity.

Still, she was happy that Diana approved of her friend, so she wasn’t too grumpy about their teasing.

Sunday was, however, quite a different story. Zack came in to help again and Trini suspected he just came because he liked the lunch Diana had made the day before, but he vehemently declined all charges. The work that was left wasn’t difficult, albeit it was a set of rather time-consuming tasks. First, they finished with the kitchen, although Diana still wasn’t quite satisfied with it, as it, according to her, lacked decorations, then they took their sweet time putting the books into the bookshelves in the living room. Then, after a quick, nonetheless very tasty lunch, courtesy of Trini’s mom, they went to finish up Trini’s room. While she did use Zack for painting the whole wall, Trini didn’t allow him to even look at the black paint and the thin brushes she had laid out for painting the lines of the maps. Instead, she just let him sit down and enjoy the peace and quiet, while she and Diana drew the outlines.

Although both her mom and Zack did keep her mind pretty occupied, Trini couldn’t help herself but think about the next day. It would be her first week of school, and while she was sure there wasn’t all that much schoolwork to catch up on, it was only the beginning of the third week, after all, just the thought of having to go there with her mom, having to endure everyone staring at her mom and comparing the two of them in their minds, was more than she ever wanted to handle. It would be just like every other time, her mom would drive her to the school in her fast, expensive car, she would go about the school halls like she owned the damned place, she would walk right into the director’s office and she would turn everyone who lays eyes on her into a puddle of mush ready to fulfil her every wish and whim, while Trini would just scurry around after her like a small sparrow would after a great eagle. She already knew the stares, the disbelief and the annoyance hidden in them.

She loved being Diana’s daughter, but sometimes, it got to be too much.

Not to mention the fact that being an invisible wallflower will prove somewhat difficult when she’ll be introduced to the school’s student body as the daughter of a supermodel—been there, done that. The students will remember her after seeing her with her mom, and then all hell will break loose. Because she isn’t tall enough, she isn’t pretty enough, she doesn’t wear good enough clothes… Most people will avoid her because her mom’s rich and that automatically makes her a stuck up witch—because logic, right?—the Sisterhood of Evil, otherwise known as the cheerleaders, the jocks and everyone else on the top of the social food chain of the school, will most probably torment her because she has something in common with them—a parent who has enough money to buy a 2017 Mustang—but she herself is not like them—read petty and worried about minor problems, like chipped nails—and generally, it will be just like every other school.

She just needs to get through this one year, and then she’ll be off to college, free from all this petty judgement.

“What’s wrong, little one?” Diana asked, breaking Trini’s train of thoughts.

Trini let out a sigh. Of course Diana would know there was something on her mind. She loved her mother dearly, more than anything in this world, but sometimes, sometimes she wished her mom wasn’t so in tune with her that even the smallest frown could tip her off. Trini watched for a short moment as Diana slowly traced the lines of the name of Minas Tirith with the thin hairs of the tip of her brush, all her movements, no matter how small, were precise and elegant. It made her wish that one day, she could be at least half as elegant as her mother.

“Nothing’s wrong. Just jitters, I guess.”

Diana hummed. “You don’t get jitters. What’s making you nervous?”

“I’m not—ah, whatever,” Trini sighed when Diana gave her a knowing look. “It just feels like something’s… I don’t know, different? About this move?”

“What’s different about this move, little one?”

“This? All of it? I don’t—I don’t really know, it just feels like… This time, this town, it’s different. Something just feels different about this.”

“Good different or bad different?”

“Good, obviously!” Zack decided to choose that moment to remind them he was, actually, still in the room. “I’m here with her and that makes all the difference!”

“The only difference you’ll ever make is whether or not I’ll end up being tried for murder before my eighteen birthday,” Trini bit back.

“What do you mean ‘before your eighteen birthday’?” Diana asked with amused curiosity in her voice.

“The world’s full of annoying people, Zack isn’t the only one. That, combined with the fact that I don’t like people, and that I absolutely hate annoying people, leaves me with a pretty high possibility that in my lifetime, I will kill at least one annoying person. If Zack behaves, which he cannot do for more than five seconds, I will not kill him. Not straight away, anyway.”

“Like you could ever do anything ‘straight’,” Zack snorted out.

“One more word, homeboy, and you can say goodbye to what you consider most precious!”

“Hey, don’t drag my mum into this!”

Trini spun around to face him. She didn’t mean it like that, she didn’t want anything bad to happen to Mrs Taylor, seeing as the woman was an angel, according to what Zack had told her. Her fears of insulting or offending Zack turned into annoyance and relief when she saw that he was smirking at her.

“I meant the two inches you carry between your legs.”

Zack gasped. “Two inches! I feel insulted, Crazy Girl! It’s one point seven inches, thank you very much! And I’m quite proud of it!”

Diana’s badly masked chuckle was the only thing that made Trini bite back another remark. Instead, she rolled her eyes at the boy and went back to painting the map onto her wall. Despite what she said to him, Trini was thankful that Zack would be by her side at least some of the time. Still, the thought of him not being there terrified her. Without him, she would have no-one. Not that she minded, or that she wasn’t used to it, if anything, she wasn’t used to having even one person with her at school, but, well, if she got used to having him around, maybe she’ll get more sensitive to other people. The problem was that generally, other people were bad news.

The ordinary student body wouldn’t notice her, she wasn’t desperate enough to actually approach anyone new, ever, so she would be invisible to them, like always. The cheerleaders and jocks might notice her because they were always on the lookout for someone to bully—welcome to America—and really, she would be the perfect target: silent, broody, with rich mom and anxiety problems. She was too different for them to accept her, and with these people, there was no ignorance or tolerance. You were either one of them, or you were prey.

The nerds were, unfortunately, even worse than the cheerleaders, in Trini’s experience. They were all guys, yes, guys, as in boys, and they all shared the same stupid idea that girls should not be allowed into their little cults worshipping different authors writing different textbooks on everything imaginable because, apparently, girls were not smart enough to call themselves nerds. Girls were supposed to be pretty and dumb and accepting. Right. The nerds didn’t like new people. They were close-knitted groups where everybody knew everybody and that was that. Not to mention Trini was more of a geek than a nerd. Now, it wasn’t because she wouldn’t be smart because she was, she just wasn’t all that into every subject at school, she didn’t know the name of every superhero or villain ever created, she hadn’t played Legends of Zelda or any of the other classics, she didn’t like the second and the third instalment of Matrix and she couldn’t program a robot to do her laundry. All that and the fact that she was a girl, especially a gay one, meant she would never make a good nerd. At least that’s what she’s been told at her previous schools, anyway.

Still, there was something different about this place. Something in her felt different. Maybe she wouldn’t be bullied on this school? Maybe her being gay wouldn’t trigger anyone, they lived pretty close to San Francisco and Zack had said that there were a few gay people out and proud on their school, and nobody minded.

Maybe she’ll be allowed to have a nice, bully-free, peaceful year.

Yeah, like that would ever happen. At least her mom would be home most days.

Which reminded her. “Did you get your schedule?”

Diana nodded. “I did. I’ll be at the university two days a week instead of one. But I’ll be able to drive you to and from school if you want.”

“Yeah, going to school in a midnight blue Mustang is really inconspicuous.”

“You never minded it before.”

“We didn’t have that car before.”

Diana chuckled. “Like that silver GranTurismo we had before was any better.”

“You had a Maserati?!” Zack yelled out, surprise clearly written all over his voice and face. “But-but… how?”

“I did tell you that mom has her share in Wayne Enterprises.”

“You do, too, little one, it’s not all just me.”

“WHAT!”

“Yea,” Trini smiled sheepishly, “Uncle Bruce wanted us to have a good life. Sue him.”

“Wait! Stop!” Zack said. He stood up from his spot and started pacing around the room. “Uncle Bruce? You mean that Bruce Wayne, the Bruce Wayne, is your uncle?”

“Adoptive Uncle, but yes,” Trini nodded, “he and mom are not blood family, but they grew up together. She helped him with Wayne Enterprises since she was, what fifteen? Sixteen?”

“Sixteen,” Diana confirmed. “That’s why I studied business at the university.”

“Then how are you a history professor?”

“Double major, history and business.”

Zack hummed, sending a look of awe to Diana, then he stopped pacing and pointed an accusatory finger at Trini. “And you minded being driven to and from school on a Maserati?”

“I didn’t mind it. I loved that car, and I love the Mustang, too. I just… I hoped this year I could be invisible. I’ve had enough people trying to bully me.”

“And you’ve conquered them all, little one,” Diana smiled. She put down the brush and toughed Trini’s cheek. “They wanted to break you, but they failed. You are stronger than any of those shallow girls. They all should envy your strength.”

“All they envied is my mother’s money.”

“Another proof that they are shallow, and you don’t need shallow people in your life. There are people who will see you, and love you, for who you are, not what you have.”

Trini leaned into her mom’s touch. A smile slowly made its way on her face. “I love you, mom.”

A frightened, unsure look crossed Diana’s face, as it always did whenever Trini told her she loved her, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and instead, it moulded into a tender, loving expression. “I love you too, little one. Very much so.”

Zack let out a fake sob and when Trini turned to glare at him, he was wiping fake tears off of his face. Instead of dignifying that with a response, Trini went back to painting the map.

“Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“Tell us about the Twin Flames again.”

Diana chuckled. “Why do you love that story so much?”

“It’s nice to think that there’s someone out there who’s made just for you.”

“And you’ll find them, and they’ll be the best person in this world. Until you do, you’ll have me right here, by your side.”

“I’ll have you by my side even after I find them,” Trini smirked knowingly, to which her mom gave a guilty, but still cheeky smile. “Now tell me.”

“So demanding,” Diana laughed, “fine, I’ll tell you.

Long ago, in times no longer remembered, the humankind lived in harmony with nature, and with each other. There were no wars, no fights, no quarrels. People loved and cared for each other, and for their surroundings. Nature thrived under their care and they themselves were happy. There was peace and prosperity in all lands of the world where there were people. And where there were no people, nature was thriving on its own. As a reward for their goodness, helpfulness and care, the people were given the Flame. It burned bright in their chests, it warmed their bodies, their thoughts and everyone around them. The kinder the person was, the greater their Flame grew inside of them.  
  
All of the living beings were attracted to this Flame, wolves started coming closer to the settlements and allowed the people to make them into house animals, just to be able to be closer to the Flame. Cats came out of the woods and started appearing in people’s house because the Flame made them feel warm and good.

But as they always do, some people started envying each other the Flame. They feared that there was someone out there whose Flame was brighter, warmer than their own. And so they started insulting others, they committed crimes and accuse others from them. They did everything bad they could think of in hopes to lessen the Flames of others so that their own could burn the brightest. But all they achieved was putting their own Flame out. Those who violated the harmony lost their Flame. And because they missed its warmth and pleasant presence, they started losing their hopes, their dreams and their love in the coldness that came without the Flame, until they lost themselves and only walked this earth as lifeless bodies, soulless beings without a purpose.

The people who still did have their Flames pities those who lost it. They couldn’t even imagine how terrible it must have felt to lose such an incredible thing. They mourned their loved ones who lost themselves in the coldness. Their hearts broke when they saw that the people they loved were now without love, without passion, without anything that would make them alive. And so, even though they were afraid, they decided to give their own Flame to the people who didn’t have it anymore.

However, they could only give a half of their Flame away, no more, no less. With only a half of the Flame, the people lost their warmth, love and happiness and turned into cunning, selfish beings. But they still had their dreams and hopes, and they had themselves. They were no longer soulless, without a purpose.

Naturally, the two halves of one Flame tried to get back together, to again form one Flame. They pushed their bearers towards each other. And when the people with the two halves of one Flame got together, they experienced the warmth that came with it, the love and the happiness just as the people before them did from their own Flames. These pairs started loving and living in harmony again and they started calling themselves Twin Flames. But even if the two halves found each other, the children born to these people only had half a flame, as a punishment for their ancestors’ crimes. However, to keep their hopes and dreams alive, the other half of the Flame lived in another person so that they could still find each other and be truly happy, and so that they were able to fully love.

And now, one people only had one half of a Flame in their chest, and they search for the other half, for their own Flame because the two people sharing the Flame were made for each other, and there is no one better fitted for a person than their Twin-Flame. To every person, there is a perfect match in intellect, emotions and body so that they both can achieve completeness and happiness together.”

Diana finished with a soft chuckle. When Trini opened her eyes, she found her mother looking at her with a fond expression.

“What?” Trini asked defensively.

“I just find it incredibly cute how you still ask me to tell that story even though you end up mouthing it along with me anyways.”

Trini could feel the hotness in her cheeks that was, undoubtedly, accompanying a blush. She shot a glare in Zack’s direction to warn him that if he ever breathed a word to anyone about her liking a story clearly meant for children, she would end him, but he only gave her a half smile half smirk and closed his eyes.

Considering the matter handled, Trini went back to panting the map on the wall, while silently wondering whether she will ever find her own Twin Flame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, that's it for today! Comments and kudos welcome! You can also find me on Tumblr on justalittlewritingnerd. Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story! I would also love to hear (read) your expectations for the story! I don't have it written down yet, and I don't even know what's going to happen further down the road, so you just might give me some inspiration with your ideas! 
> 
> Also, a small hint for this chapter (seeing as it might not be as useless as I think it is) I love foreshadowing. Just sayin'. 
> 
> Hate you all, hoomans!


	5. Everyone deserves a chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> I’m here again, with another chapter. This one is a little deep, and then a little funny (at least I hope it’s funny). And yeah, still nothing much happens. I’m trying, though, guys, I really am, as much as my studies and other duties allow. 
> 
> Enjoy!

The next morning went pretty much as Trini expected. She woke up earlier than necessary with a clenched throat and stomach that felt more uneasy than a small fishing boat on a rough, open sea. She spent the few extra moments she had lying in her bed, contemplating her options for the day. She could tell her mom she was sick and not go to school, although that strategy would probably not work. That way she would avoid all those looks and whispers and sneered insults and stupid comments. Or she could face it all like the almost grown-up woman she was, like her mom would do, with head held high and show them, herself and her mom included, that she could do it. The next option was to just get it over and done with, do her best to keep her grades up and all she’d do to anyone who’d give her shit would be to show them, and the rest of the world, her middle finger, like her Aunt Ivy would do. Another option was just to get a big mallet like Aunt Harley had suggested some time ago.

  
But she wasn’t like Aunt Ivy, or Aunt Harley, or Diana. She was a stupid teenager who cared too much about the opinion of others for her own liking, with such a naive way of viewing the world that she herself wanted to laugh at it sometimes. She was a kid with anxiety disorder and completely nothing else to her name (the money didn’t count, she didn’t make it, after all).

  
Maybe it would be a good idea to fake sickness after all.

  
No. She was Trini Prince, daughter of Diana Prince, she did not give up, she did not cry, she did not surrender. She was a fighter, like her mom. She she will get up from this effin’ bed and fight this damned fight, even if she was to get through a panic attack in the middle of it all, which wasn’t half as crazy as it sounded, considering all the stress and worries and insecurities she’s been pushing back for the last three weeks.

  
With a sigh, that even to her own ears sounded like anything but resolute, Trini pushed herself out of the bed and into the warm, September morning. She went about her morning routine somewhat disoriented and in a pattern that would surely make an excellent scene in a cheesy sitcom, since she spent more time trying to find the things she needed than actually using it, like her hairbrush, for example. After she was minty fresh and presentable, she went to choose a t-shirt (one of those black, metal band ones she loved so much) and a flannel (black and yellow).

  
Downstairs, her mom was already making breakfast. She loved her mom’s cooking, especially her pancakes, which were often made in different colours and stacked onto Trini’s plate so that they’d make a rainbow. That wasn’t the case this particular morning, however. Obviously, Trini understood. The kitchen, hell, the whole house was not yet ready for that level of homey normalcy, but she still felt somewhat disappointed when she saw pain, ordinary, golden-brown pancakes in two stack.

  
“Morning, mom.”

  
“Good morning, little one,” Diana answered with a look on her face that was somewhere between pleased and concerned. “How are you feeling?”

  
“Like it’s the morning of my execution,” Trini huffed out as she plopped herself down onto one of the dining chairs. She pulled one of the plates of pancakes and the bottle of syrup in front of her and dug in with the vigour of a sloth. Just looking at the pancakes had her stomach do funny things, but she did love her mom’s pancakes, and she wasn’t going to let them go to waste, nervous stomach be damned.   


“Aren’t you being a tad bit dramatic?”  


Chewing on a bite of her breakfast, Trini gave what she hoped was the look of pure concentration, as if she were actually pondering the question. “Perhaps,” she admitted, “I guess today is just the day of me being charged, then a few days of torture will follow, after that my trial where they’ll most probably find me guilty on the base of non-existent and spectral evidence, and only after that it will be time for my execution.”  


“Are you really comparing your school year to a witch trial?”  


“It will feel like a witch trial.”  


“I don’t think it will. They used to keep the supposed witches from sleeping by throwing cold water at them every few minutes and they used to rape them every few hours. That won’t happen to you.”  


“Yeah, that’s a plus.”  


“Sarcasm is usually used to mask real emotions.”  


“It is also used to mask trying to be mean to people who don’t understand it.”  


“Do you think that was a wise thing to say to your mother?” Diana asked, one eyebrow quirked upwards.   


Trini cleared her throat. She could see the twinkle of amusement in her mom’s eyes so deep down she knew she was in the clear, but she was still worried about what to say. When she was younger, she used to think that if she messed up in whatever small way, Diana would give her up and send her back into the system. That fear was quenched, through hours upon hours of conversations and reassurings and vacations and trips and cuddles and bedtime stories and basically anything Diana could think of to make sure Trini knew she had a mother and that mother would never give her up. And Trini knew. She knew that just like she knew that plants needed sunlight to breathe, or that schizophrenia, bipolar personality disorder and split personality disorder were three different things.   


And she liked to think that she’s conquered that fear a long time ago and that she was all okay now. But there were still times, like right now, when she would say something bad or stupid and she would see the shadow of disappointment, or disapproval, would cross her mom’s face, it would come back, hit her like a freight train, and make her anxiety skyrocket.   
Instead of answering, Trini looked down at her plate.   


“Little one,” Diana said softly, and Trini lifted her head up to look at her instead of taking another bite because that was her mom’s ‘I love you and I need you to listen to me’ voice. “I’ll be there with you. You won’t be alone.”  


“In case it wasn’t enough that I’ll be driven to and from school on a Ford Mustang, now everyone will know my mom is a supermodel, too.”  


Diana chuckled. “If you think it’s too much, I can get you a bike. I’m sure we can find a tricycle that’d be small enough for you.”  


“Short jokes, mom? Really? Very original.”  


“All is fair in love and war, darling. Now eat your breakfast or you’ll be late for school.”  


“Can I stay home instead?”  


Diana looked at her for a moment, eyes holding a strange mix of concern and adamant resolution that Trini’s never seen in them. “Why are you so convinced that this school will be the eighth circle of hell?”  


“Because it will be!” Trini grumped out like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which, well, it kind of was, considering the circumstances. “I’ll be the new kid, which makes me a target. I’m Mexican, which makes me a target. I’m sassy and sarcastic, which makes me a target. I don’t even acknowledge the rules the privileged kids set up, which makes me a target. I only have one adoptive parent, which makes me a target. I’m kind of smart, which makes me a target. Mom, the kids out there, they are brutal. All they care about is their status and making fun of those who didn’t make it as far up the social food-chain as they did. They are all either angry at the world and want to be the rebels who do whatever they please, or they are mommy’s and daddy’s sweethearts who will not even look at you if you don’t get their parents’ approval beforehand. They want power and they think that pushing other kids around grants them that, and guess what, a five-foot-tall girl who cannot even use her self-defence classes because it would cause an offence is really easy to push around. Or lock in a locker, for that matter. High school is a PvP death-match server of a hardcore online game full of pay to win players. This isn’t Canada, mom, people aren’t nice here.”  


“Little one,” Diana started, then she stopped for a second as if she wasn’t sure what to say next. Then she sighed. “If you saw ten people all dressed in black, would you think they all are going to a funeral?”  


“No.”  


“Would you think they are all punks?”  


“No, but that…”  


“Would you think they are all metalheads?”  


“No, but mom, that’s different!”  


“How is it different?”  


“Just because they are all dressed in black doesn’t mean that they are all a part of the same social group. One can have a black leather jacket with an anarchy sign, the other can have a perfectly done black suit, that’s different!”  


“Uh-huh. And if you look at a bunch of high school students, would you think they are all the same?”  


“No, and they cannot be. The society of high school is divided, perhaps even more so than the normal society. You cannot expect a nerd to be the same as a cheerleader!”  


“Alright. Imagine ten cheerleaders standing in a row. Would they all be the same?”  


“Physically? No. I mean, besides being pretty and strong. Mentally, well, there is a leader, or two on occasion, and the rest follow them, but essentially, they are similar.”  


“Similar. Not the same.”  


“That doesn’t change a thing when similar means that they all like to bully people!”  


“Do they?” Diana asked, somewhat victorious. “Do they all like to bully people? Or is it just two, three, four girls out of the whole squad?”  


Trini was quiet. She couldn’t remember how many kids actually picked on her, and how many of them were cheerleaders or jocks, or even when that difference started to matter.   


“They became cheerleaders because of their skill, not their opinions or attitudes. I bet most of the kids in there are just doing what they do because they’ve seen it in others and think that’s what they should do.

And most of them don’t even like it.”  


“Why do they do it, then?”  


“Because they are people and people imitate others before they can find themselves. It’s normal. Now, finish your breakfast.”  


Trini only grumped in response, but she went to take another bite, anyway.   


“Little one, you’ll be fine. You’ll be more than fine, Zack will be there with you.”  


“Not all the time.”  


“No, but it’ll be better than before. And maybe this time, you’ll make more friends.”  


“It’s not like I don’t want to have friends,” Trini huffed like a little kid who didn’t get their way, which instantly made her cringe. She wasn’t a little kid. She was a grown-ass almost adult.   


“I know. But perhaps this time, it could be different. You said it yourself, something is different.”  


“Yeah,” Trini shrugged. “But I’ve gone through school bullying four times too many to expect something else. You do know what they say about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, right?”  


“See, this is one of the reasons you need more friends your age. You’ve spent too much time with your aunts already! You should be out there, doing crazy things, not in here, debating craziness with your mother.”  


“I like debating stuff with you! Even if you win most of the times.”  


Diana chuckled. “Fair enough. But still, this is a new chance for you. Just… just try to keep an open mind, okay? Everyone is different and not everyone will bully you or ignore you. And that goes for the cheerleaders, too. Alright? Don’t be so judgemental. Everyone deserves a chance.”  


Trini sighed. “Fine, I’ll try.”  


“That’s all I ask, my love.”

  


* * *

  


The school was, like Trini imagined, a single, old building, with grass and trees all around it. There was a small parking lot in the front and a bigger, somewhat underkept one a little further around. Kids were coming in, some by foot, some by cars, some got off the yellow bus at the stop a few feet away and some, like Trini, got a ride from their parents. None of them it a Mustang, though. Of course, the car called a lot of attention and they haven’t even stepped out yet. Trini pressed herself further into the black leather of the car seat. 

  
She looked up to her mom when she felt a gentle touch of soft, warm fingers on her own hand. “If it gets to be too much at any point, call me and I’ll come get you. It’ll be okay.”

  
Trini nodded her head and got a loving kiss on her temple before her mom let go of her hand and got out of the car. 

  
She looked out of the window and to the school, to all the kids in different clothing with different bags over their shoulders. Maybe her mom was right, maybe this time was going to be different. Adjusting her headphones on her neck, Trini took a deep breath and got out of the car. 

  
Of course, she was expecting the stares and the whispers and the pointed fingers, she just wasn’t expecting them so soon. Everyone was watching, a lot of them saying something to each other, as she shut the car door and the lights flashed, signalling her mom locked it. Everyone was looking at them, there were even some giggles and a lot of ogling as she crossed the short distance between the car and the stairs, and followed her mom into the building of the school. 

  
As soon as her mom stepped inside, the sea of students parted before her, creating a corridor exactly where she looked. It was always quite a spectacle for Trini to watch her mom command crowds of people with just one stare. She had a strong presence, a charisma that could not be denied. She moved with grace and easiness, but there was a decisiveness, too, a raw power laced over with elegance that demanded respect. Diana walked the earth like a goddess, like she owned it, and it was times like these where Trini found herself doubting her mother was human. Trini could imagine how comically they surely looked—Diana tall and proud, beautiful, powerful, dangerous, with long, sleek hair and legs for days that made for sure steps, only more pronounced by the elegant, black heels; and Trini, small, anxious, insecure, scurrying after her mom like a small, clumsy kitten after a lioness, or a puppy that still hasn’t gotten the hand of the art of walking, since her legs were shaky and unsteady, and the soles of her sneakers squeaked uncomfortably with every other step she took. Surely, all the other students noticed that difference, too, and they’ll know right away that Trini is the new bullying material.

  
But hey, she promised her mom less judgement, so she’ll at least have to try that. After she’s proven right, she can go right back to being her guarded, judgemental self and it’ll be okay because she’ll be able to say she’s at least tried. When they stepped into the director’s assistant’s office, Trini had to hide a fake-gag at she sight of the secretary, a pretty, blond woman, eyeing her mom like an old, perverted man. She fake-gagged again when the woman hurriedly stood up, all too eager to do anything Diana asked of her, and announced them to the director. For the third time, she gagged when they stepped into his office, and there were now two people, the secretary and the director, who were eyeing her mom like a dancer in a nightclub. 

  
The whole process of signing Trini up and getting her schedule was rather slow and very uncomfortable for both Prince women. Trini could see the annoyance in her mom’s eyes, could hear it in her voice and her choice of words when she turned down every blatant attempt at flirting from both of the school’s officials. The director and the secretary were, however, too observed in Diana’s beauty to care for the tense atmosphere. 

  
When they finally managed to get out of the office, Trini clutching her schedule close to her chest and carrying a bag full of schoolbooks that she got from the director personally, only to impress her mom no doubt, it was almost time for the first period to end. The hallway was completely empty, except for one annoying-looking boy clad in a black leather jacket and black jeans, leaning against the wall with all the confidence and smugness of the world. 

  


“Hey, Tiny! You’ve been there pretty long!”

  
“Shouldn’t you be in class, Zack?” Trini asked, her voice low in faux annoyance. She didn’t want him to think she was relieved to see him there.  
  


“And miss your first day at this hellhole of a school? Not a chance!”  


Before she knew what was happening, he ran at her and swept her up in a tight hug, which only ended when she kicked his shin. He did, however, manage to take her schedule from her hands, and oohed in interest when he looked over it.  


“Zack,” Diana said gently, but her voice held a sternness that compelled him to face her immediately. “Take care of my daughter. She’s your responsibility.”  


“Mom!” Trini whined in protest, but it went ignored. Well, not really ignored, Diana never ignored her, and this time wasn’t any different if the short look Trini got from her mom was anything to go by, but still, she did not heed the protest.   


“If anything happens to her, you’ll be one of the people I’ll be hunting down. Understood?”  


“Yes, ma’am,” Zack croaked out, clearly intimidated by Diana’s look.   


Diana seemed content with the answer, and with the reaction, judging by the smugness in her expression, as she turned to her daughter. “If anything happens, if you feel anxious or if someone gives you a hard time, call me. Okay?”  


“I can take care of myself—”  


“Okay?”  


Trini stared into her mom’s caring eyes. She couldn’t stare too long, though, because this was her mom and she knew her mom loved her and cared for her and only wanted to protect her, and so whatever protest Trini had in mind was clearly in vain and wouldn’t even make it to the back of her throat, let alone out of her mouth.   


“Okay.”  


“Good,” Diana smiled softly, then she pulled Trini into a tight hug. “I know you can take care of yourself, little one. And I know you can take whatever they throw at you. I just want you to remember that if it ever gets to be too much, I’ll be there to help you.”  


“Thanks, mom. I love you,” Trini whispered, gripping her mom’s blouse tight in her fists.   


“I love you too, little one,” Diana squeezed her, then let go of her and stepped back. “Have fun. And you, take care of her,” she said to Zack. She then ruffled his hair good-naturally.   
Trini and Zack just stood on the hallway, watching her leave.   


“Well, Tiny,” Zack started after the clicking of Diana’s heels stopped echoing around the hall, “let’s see where we’re going. Huh, good locker position. You’ll be right in the middle of the hall of the core of the cheer squad. Welp, nothing you can do about that… Oh, you have English lit, now! I have that too! C’mon!”  


Dragging her across the building, Zack showed her a few useful things, like which bathrooms to avoid because they were the cheer squad’s hanging out spots or which staircases not to take in order to avoid the general population of the school. They stopped briefly at what Zack said was her locker, which proved to be right when she entered the code, although she chose not to leave any of her things there out of fear that she wouldn’t be able to remember which locker was hers. And there might have been an incident at one of her previous schools where somebody got into her locker and desecrated all her stuff, so, yeah, she was cautious.   


The classroom Zack took her to then was empty, It looked like any other literature classroom Trini’s seen in any other school she’s been in, right down to the portraits of various authors on the walls. She wondered briefly of those were standard issued for all schools.   


“Did you bring me here to try to get in my pants?” she asked, quirking her eyebrow at the boy.   


“As your lesbro, I’m officially offended.”  


“Oh well.”  


“Besides,” he continued as if she didn’t say anything, the only indication he heard her was a small wrinkle in the corner of his mouth, which betrayed his smirk, “I promised your mom I’d take care of you, I cannot, and will not, defile you ten minutes after that.”  


“You’re just scared of her.”  


“Can you blame me? She’s terrifying!”  


“She’s my mom, Zack, she’s not terrifying.”  


“She’s your terrifying mom. She said she’d hunt me down if I let something happen to you! I can’t let her destroy this perfection!” he explained, gesturing with his hand to all of himself.   


“Oh please, let something happen to me so I can watch her destroy you!”  


“Would you really wish that on your lesbro?”  


“Yes,” she answered without hesitation.  


“But why?” he whined out like a kid.   


Trini rolled her eyes at him. “Because you call yourself my lesbro.”  


“But that’s what I am!”  


“You wish, homeboy.”  


Zack seemed to contemplate her response for a moment, then he frowned at her. “Is this the gay-straight equivalent of friendzone?”  


“Wait, is that even a real question?”  


“Yes! I’m honestly confused right now!”  


“Well, I honestly don’t care right now,” she bit back, fighting off a smirk at the offended grimace he put on.   


The door to the room opened. “Mr Taylor? I’m surprised to see you in my classroom.”  


They both turned to face the newcomer. It was a man, around mid-forties, with black hair and blackish-silver, short-trimmed beard, clad in a grey suit jacket and jeans that looked somewhat smart.   


“Hey, Mr Peters,” Zack greeted with a cheeky grin.   


“I believe you should be heading to your class now,” the man, Mr Peters, said, which prompted Trini to give Zack a questioning look. He did say he had this class with her, right?  


“Yeah, about that,” Zack walked over to the man, casually, but still somehow respectfully, which Trini didn’t know could be combined until now. “You see, my pal Tiny here—”  


“It’s Trini, for the love of God, Zack, learn my name!”  


“As I was saying, Tiny is new here and she only knows me, so I thought it’d be cool if I could switch out some classes, be with her, help her navigate the school…” he trailed off, somehow unsure.  


The teacher gave a soft chuckle. “I’m not sure you’re the right person for the job, seeing as you’re rarely at the school.”  


“Aww, c’mon, I ain’t that bad! ‘Sides, her mom kinda made me promise I’ll watch this little bean for her—”  


“Zachary Taylor, I swear, they will not have a body to find after I’m done with you!”  


“So, whaddya say?” Zack asked the teacher, completely ignoring Trini’s threats.   


Trini half-expected Mr Peters to lecture her about threatening a fellow student, but the man just watched them and seemed entirely too amused to do anything about breaking the school code, or the law, for that matter.   


“Will you actually attend my classes if I do this for you?”  


“Yeah, totally! Like, fifty per cent!”  


“Eighty,” countered the teacher.  


“Seventy!”  


As if knowing this was as good as is could get, Mr Peters nodded his head. He then headed towards his desk and Zack and Trini found places in the back of the classroom, just as other students started to fill in.   


This was going to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s it for today. I really hope you liked it. Let me know what you think, I know I don’t replay to comments (mostly because for some reason, the page doesn’t respond when I try to do so), but I read every single one of them, and I love them. 
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	6. Four-Footer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks! 
> 
> I know, I know, I updated just two days ago and here I am again, but… well, seeing as I love this fandom and people in it, I wanted to post this here for you as a way of celebrating my birthday with you! Also, I’m not sure whether I’ll manage to update again in two weeks, as I have loads of work for school and I don’t know whether I’ll have enough time to do that and to write another chapter, so… yeah. 
> 
> There's a trigger warning for this chapter, there will be depictions of bullying. If you feel like that's not your thing, skip the first half of the chapter. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

The second day of Trini’s Angel Grove High experience hasn’t even started yet, not really, and there was already trouble on the way. How did she know, exactly? Well, first of all, Zack wasn’t available to spend the morning with her, he had to stay with his mom, and even if he did go to school, they wouldn’t have the same classes. Still, there was no one to walk her to classes and show her where her classes are actually held, which made her anxious. The second clue came in the form of people staring at her when she got out of her mom’s car, and as far as she could tell from the little time she spent watching other people watch her, none of those stares was friendly. But she didn’t dwell on it, she just shut the car door before her mom could express any concern, pulled her bag up over her shoulder and made her way inside. It took her some time to find her locker on her own, and judging by the crowd of students gathered on the corridor, each either taking their stuff out of their lockers or waiting for someone to take their stuff, she didn’t have that much time to get her own books and try to find the right classroom for her first period, which was the third thing that rang the warning bells in her head. 

With a soft sigh, and a mental happy dance when she did find her locker and enter the correct combination, she grabbed her schedule. Her feeling of accomplishment was quickly replaced by one of annoyance when she learnt that she was supposed to have double AP European History, a course of her own choice, with a certain Mr Sutherland. Just the name gave her the creeps, let alone the fact that she didn’t know who else could have that class with her and she didn’t know where the classroom number 54IH was located. Great.

Just as she was taking out her book for the lesson, which in her own humble opinion should be called European History in a Nutshell for Dummies, according to how thin it was, she heard whispers and shifting of the students, which was another clue that there was something brewing. It was never good when the conversations in the hallways died down. She just hoped that whoever from the school nobility was walking down the hall, they wouldn’t pick her as a target.

Yeah, like her life could ever be that easy.

She put the book in her back just before the door to her locker slammed shut under the force of a pale hand.

“Well, what do we have here?”

Trini turned to face whoever decided to be her tormentor for the next four to ten months. The girl was a typical cheerleader, tall, pretty, with a charming smile and a vicious glint in her eye only more pronounced by the blue of her cheerleader’s uniform. Perfect. 

The cheerleader looked Trini up and down, slowly, with apprehension, like she would a strange animal at the zoo. “What, exactly, are you?”

Quirking her eyebrow was Trini’s only response. This was new, even for her. 

“Hey, Rebecca,” the cheerleader continued. “What do you think she is? My money’s on a filthy Mexican from a family of six, living in a garage, no money for food or normal clothes… probably homeschooled until now, ‘coz she was too ashamed to show that ugly face anywhere but her garage. Or trailer.”

So they didn’t know about the Mustang, then. Strange. Trini figured with how fast news usually travels around high schools, everybody would know by now. 

“Well? What are you?”

Trini just continued to stare, while she pondered which strategy to go with. She did have a few choices, although they all resulted in the same outcome. If she kept quiet, ignored them and didn’t bend to their words, they would just be coming onto her more to get a reaction. If she accepted it and just let them do their thing, they would keep coming back for more, because it would be fun for them. And if she stood up to them, they would want to punish her and break her for even trying to defy them. And while neither of those seemed like something that would be worth it, because in the end, she would still have this annoying person on her tail, she didn’t like the idea of just taking it, because that resulted in more and more aggression. On the other hand, she didn’t want to do something that would result in her getting in trouble with the school’s officials, because then Diana would have a reason to stop loving her and give her up. Not to mention fines and maybe juvie, if she used any of her combat skills against an untrained opponent while not in a life-threatening situation, so there was that.

Gritting her teeth to keep herself from saying anything, Trini turned around and started walking away. Before she could take three steps, however, she was pulled back and pushed into the lockers with the pretty cheerleader blocking any way out. 

“Listen up, you trash, ‘coz I’m only gonna say this once,” the girl growled, voice low and threatening right in Trini’s ear. Well, it seemed ignorance wasn’t the way to go with this one. “This school? This school is my fucking playground. This school belongs to be.” So much for not repeating yourself, Trini thought. “And as long as you’re here, I own you. You do what I tell you, when I tell you, and if you don’t, I’ll make sure your life in here will be—”

“Will be a living hell,” Trini cut her off with a bored expression, “Geez, where did I hear that before? You cheerleaders should really start watching more TV, you know, shake things up a bit. There are other movies and shows about high school life than Glee and Mean Girls. You should check something out, those overused lines are just embarrassing by this point.”

“You might wanna train saying that in whatever whacko language is your native one, I’m sure there will be a lot of girls to say that to at school you’ll go to after you get deported.”

“Eh, I’ll pass. Some of us are capable of coming up with a comeback on spot and don’t need to practice speeches in front of a mirror.”

“I guess that’s a habit a person acquires when they don’t have the money to buy a mirror, huh?”

“You seem to know a lot about how being poor works. Personal experience?”

The girl growled. “Clearly you haven’t been taught how to show respect to your betters. But don’t worry, I’ll teach you. Maybe a few hours in your locker will do the trick.”

“Amanda?” another girl, most probably a cheerleader follower, voiced, somewhat nervous. The girl pressing Trini against the locker turned to look at her, which seemed to be all the permission the other girl needed to continue. “We should get going. We need to get to bio.”

“Not yet,” the girl, Amanda, snapped before she turned back to Trini, “I still need to teach this ugly-ass bitch some manners. So, what do you say, four-footer? Since you’re new here, I’ll let you choose. Where do you wanna be stuck? In your locker or the smelly janitor’s closet down the hall?” 

“Something tells me anywhere would be better than a ten feet radius of you.”

Amanda tsk-ed. “You have a bad talking back problem, four-footer. Then again, what else can be expected from a fucking Mexican with no manners? Your locker it is, then.”

The sound of rushing footsteps echoed around the hall right before a loud shout of ‘Amanda!’ made its way into Trini’s ears. Everyone in the hall turned to see a girl walking towards them. She had tan skin and piercing brown eyes, which were only more pronounced by the amount of the black eye-liner she had on. She had a commanding aura of a head girl in charge, an aura that said this girl was born to command crowds with a single word, to the extent that it reminded Trini of her mom to an extent. The blue-and-white cheerleading uniform didn’t fit well with the overall vibe Trini got from the girl, although it did show off her muscular arms and legs that went on for days and could easily make Trini’s own legs wobble if they were in a different situation. Not that she’d ever admit to any of that, no matter what kind of torture she would be put through. 

“Oh, hey, Kimmy! Want in on the fun? I was just about to show this four-footer it shouldn’t talk back and embarrass its betters—”

“We don’t have the time for that,” the newcomer, Kimmy, cut Amanda off, “we have better things to do. Oakwood will have your ass if you don’t go to bio now and I actually want to make it to the chem lab on time, before Marie Curie chews me out for being late!”

“Who?” Amanda asked, confusion lacing her voice, and Trini couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling back into her skull, because, really? That reference couldn’t have been more obvious! 

The tanned girl closed her eyes for a moment, clearly as annoyed with her friend as Trini was. “My chemistry teacher. Now come on, we gotta go!”

“But—”

“We don’t have time!” Kimmy cut the other cheerleader off and started walking down the hall again. Amanda reluctantly let go of Trini’s shoulders, with one more push for good measure, before trailing after the other cheerleader. The third girl, the one who was there with Amanda, eyed Trini like she was unsure whether continue trying to intimidate her, but then she scurried away after the two. Trini watched them until they got lost in the crows, then she pulled her bag up and started slowly walking in the other direction, her mind shifting from annoying small-town cheerleaders to the bigger problem, which was, where the hell was her first lesson held? If only Zack was there with her, he would be able to walk her there. 

Maybe she could ask someone for directions? Surely, there was someone nice enough to help the new kid out. After a quick look around, she decided against the idea. It seemed the general public lost interest when the cheerleaders left and now the hall was almost empty except for a tall boy in a blue sweater fast-walking somewhere while muttering something under his breath, clearly lost in thought, and a bunch of jocks in blue-and-white jackets coming her way. 

She was trying to remember where it was Zack said janitors could be usually found, so that she would ask them, when she heard one of the jocks yell out: “…football, Jace! Here! In America! Not the… things that happened, all the way in Europe or wherever, some time ago, like, in the past…”

“You mean history,” a blond boy, probably the one called Jace, said in a strained voice, “and I need it. Football scholarship is nice, but useless if I don’t actually study.”

“Football can get you places! You don’t need studying!”

“I actually enjoy it. European history is fascinating.”

European history. Maybe this guy could lead her to where she needed to be. It was worth a shot, and just following the group seemed way less trouble than asking for directions. Deciding it was her best option, Trini turned around and followed after them, careful to stay in a reasonable distance so that they wouldn’t notice her. When the group divided, she locked eyes on the sandy-haired head and followed that into a somewhat dark corridor. The walls were lined with different maps of the world, continents or countries, all differently coloured and all focusing on different things. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to follow the jock, maybe he had geography now and led her into a completely different part of the school…

The guy suddenly turned into a classroom. Trini stopped, unsure of what to do now. She walked closer and looked at the number on the door. 54IH. Seemed to be the right classroom after all. 

She had just enough time to find an empty seat at the back of the class before the teacher—a somewhat stuck-up looking man, perhaps around his mid-to-late fifties, with hair that looked like autumn snow and a beard of white needles, in an old, worn-out sweater and jeans that had outlived their good days by at least fifty years—stepped in and closed the door. He glanced at the students with a look that was somewhere between boredom and annoyance, then he sat down at his desk and pulled out a very familiar-looking book. It wasn’t the one students used for the course, still, Trini recognised it from somewhere.

He didn’t call attendance, didn’t even look at them past that first glance, he just got comfortable and started reading from the book. 

After about twenty minutes of listening how the teacher talked in circles about the grand escape of the Puritans from England of the great Mayflower and how they did the Native Americans a huge favour by coming onto their land, enslaving them and forcing them to change their culture, Trini’s had enough. Not that she paid much attention to him, she spent most of that time doodling mindlessly in her notebook, but still, she’s managed to catch enough to know that this man should never teach anything, especially not history. 

She lifted her head from her doodle to look around the classroom. Surely she wasn’t the only one who noticed the man was completely ignoring every rulebook about teaching European history. But before she noticed anyone who wasn’t furiously scribbling down notes from the man’s babbling, her eyes caught on the book he was clearly reading from, and her jaw clenched. She knew that book, and she knew for sure that not even a quarter of the things he’s said since the beginning of the lesson was in that book. She knew the book was actually objective and well-written, and that it offered a rational look at the whole of

European history, starting with Ancient Greece. She knew all that, because it was one of the books her mom wrote, back when they lived in Athens, Ohio, as a study guide for her students at the Ohio University, and her mom would never write something that wasn’t true, and she most certainly wouldn’t support the ideas of slavery and oppression that the man in front of them gave as proven facts. 

“…the colonists would surely have died if it weren’t for the Indians admitting them as their rightful gods and masters, nor there would be America as we know it if the colonists didn’t sign the Mayflower compact, which is the base of our constitution, on that ship in 1621.”

Hearing those stupidities for the fourth time was four times too many for Trini. “And they especially wouldn’t have survived if there weren’t colonies established since the middle of the sixteenth century.”

The teacher looked up from the book and gave her an unimpressed look. “If you have a problem, I suggest you leave. Otherwise be quiet, this is my lecture, I will lead it however I see fit.”

“Does that include giving us false information, skipping century and a half worth of actions we should know about, not giving any explanation or elaboration on how those things came to passs, and peaking only about America in a course called European history?”

“I don’t know what you mean?”

“Well, first of all, Mayflower wasn’t a luxury yacht or any saving grace, it was a cargo vessel going to an already established colony and the Puritans had to bribe the captain to get on board. Plus the Mayflower compact was signed in today’s Cape Cod, in November of 1620, after the Puritans got off the ship. And that’s just for some of the false information you’ve given in the past three minutes. This course is supposed to start with the explanation of the political and economic situation in Europe at the beginning of the fifteenth century, that means around the year 1400. I doubt just last week’s lesson would be enough to get you from there to the year 1620, which means you’re violating the course plans—”

“I follow the plans to the letter!” the teacher said, just a few decibels shy from shouting. “I give you information taken from the book by one of the best historians, and America’s top expert on European history, Professor Doctor Diana Prince!”

Trini had to suppress a laugh at that. Sure, her mom was a capacity when it came to the academic ground, and she was pretty famous amongst the historians of the world, that wasn’t the part she wanted to laugh at. Then again, the man hasn’t even checked the attendance, he had no way of knowing who exactly he was arguing with. 

“Yeah, that’s why we’re talking about the colonisation of North America like it was the best thing to ever happen. Yet, I haven’t heard anything about who the Puritans actually were, you didn’t mention the Church of England once, which was, by the way, the reason why the Puritans had to leave England, you didn’t even acknowledge that there already were colonies in North America before 1620, and there were a lot of them, like Virginia or Newfoundland. And you didn’t even try to explain why it was that the Europeans started the colonisation, and there were many, many reasons, not enough precious metals, religious problems and the Ottomans taking over Constantinople to name a few. And you’re still somehow teaching.”

“One more remark and I’ll make sure you’ll never graduate in this school. Is that clear, miss…?”

“Prince,” Trini failed to fight off the smirk. “Trini Prince.”

Mr Sutherland visibly paled, his eyes shot wide open and the grip of his hands on the book loosened slightly. He was quiet for a long moment, then he cleared his throat and started turning pages of the book, probably looking for an earlier chapter. 

“Very well, we shall start with the economic situation in Europe in the early fifteenth century. Europe was divided into several feudal kingdoms…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s it for today! I hope you liked it! Don’t forget to leave comments and cudos! As you might have noticed, I write about history. Yes, I am a history freak and yes, I am currently studying history, so you’ll be seeing more of that from me. 
> 
> Well, that’s all from me. 
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	7. Pretty Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> It’s been too long since I posted, and I’m so, so, so sorry about that! I won’t give you any excuses, I know you’re not curious about my personal life. 
> 
> But! Here’s a new chapter for you! And it’s finally Kimberly time! Jeez, I completely forgot what I was keeping from you, guys. But it’s here, and I hope it’s worth the wait!
> 
> And, just to make sure everyone is okay and safe and well-warned: this chapter contains bullying and description of a panic attack if you don't feel like reading it, or if you think you might be triggered, don't read this chapter!
> 
> Now, enjoy!

The school was, surprisingly, quite good. With the exception of Mr Sutherland, who was still obsessing about Trini’s mom, the teachers were interested in their subjects and their students and managed to make lessons captivating. It was with various levels of success, sure, but still, Trini couldn’t say she outright hated any subject, which was an improvement from her previous schools. Even the Sisterhood of Evil wasn’t that bad. She’s only had about three encounters with Amanda, all of them somewhat weak and short-lived, like an anticlimactic movie battle of the hero against the villain—think the Hulk vs Loki in Avengers anticlimactic—because they were always cut off by this Kimmy girl. Most of the students were too self-absorbed to even notice her, a big plus in her book, and the jocks in this school didn’t seem to like picking on girls, since they never did it to her and she’s never seen or heard about them taunting some other girl. Even the food in the cafeteria was quite good, and it really helped that some of the ladies working there seemed to take a liking to her, as they would always advise her what to choose, and they would always give Trini larger portions of french-fries or rice or vegetable. Trini liked them, as much as she could like complete strangers, and always listened to their food-regarding advise. Also, the one time that any of those particular ladies weren’t working, Trini’s learnt that she should never, under any circumstances, get any kind of potatoes that were not fries, unless she wanted to beat someone to death with them. 

She survived almost two whole weeks without any major incident. The teachers didn’t call her to introduce herself, the students ignored her and Amanda never got quite the time span she desired to humiliate Trini. And Trini was okay with that. She was, actually, quite happy about it. There still was the anxiety, she still waited for the other shoe to drop, so to speak, but still, it was going well. 

But then, on the first Friday of October, at the end of her lunch break, when she only had two more lessons to go and then she’d be free to go home and game until the early hours of the next morning, when she only had those two more hours to go until she could get into her mom’s Mustang and get a kiss to the temple, when she only needed to get through that to be able to let go of all the tension and stress in the safety of her mom’s presence, everything had to go downhill. 

She was with Zack at her locker, taking out her book for her biology class, when a hand smashed into the locker next to hers. She jumped in surprise, her book almost falling out of her hand, but she managed to collect herself and look at whoever thought she was afraid of them. 

The biggest surprise came when she realised they weren’t there for her. 

“Ooh, look at you go, Trailer, got yourself a girlfriend, I see,” came the taunting voice of a boy, who was now leaning his weight on the hand pressed against the locker. He had a smug look on his face, which Trini recalled seeing around the school, though the face itself, which looked like it couldn’t really decide whether it wanted to grow hair or not, paired with sharply cut hard angles of his jaw and nose, was quite comical. Then she noticed the white-and-blue football jacket on his board shoulders. A jock. Great. Now all that was missing was the loud hollering of his teammates and the annoying giggling of the cheerleaders. 

Trini could clearly see the clench in Zack’s jaw and the way his shoulders stiffened, but he didn’t react to the words. He kept staring at the opposite wall, waiting for Trini to finish up. She shoved the book into her rucksack, shut her locker closed and started walking in the direction of the science wing with Zack at her side. 

The jock, however, didn’t like to be ignored, as he scoffed in a strong voice: “Did living in the trailer make you deaf or your geisha of a mom just couldn’t teach you English?”

The people around the hall stopped to look at them. Zack was tense, his whole body ready to jump into a fight. But if he fought, he could get suspended, or expelled and then what? There was no other school for a few miles away from the town, Zack couldn’t just transfer, he didn’t have the money, nor the time. Trini could feel the forceful clenching of her chest, the tightening in her throat, the cold pressure that made it difficult to take more than short, shallow breaths. There were people staring, she, along with this whole mess, was the centre of attention, and if Zack answered these taunts, she was sure she would help him, or try to, anyway. 

She looked at Zack, silently begging him not to do anything too harsh. She didn’t want a fight, and neither of them could afford it, Zack because of his mom and Trini because of the distant fear that Diana would give her up for the smallest screw-up. 

They kept walking, Zack now leading the way. They only managed to get in a few steps before the jock, annoyed at being denied the desired reaction, moved away from the locker and grabbed Trini by the arm. Her first reflex was to pull herself closer and punch him, but he caught her hand before it could make an impact and used it to pull her even closer to him. “Mmm, feisty, I like that. You know, you’re too pretty to date trash like Trailer over there,” he said loudly, his face getting closer and closer to hers. He didn’t let go of her hands, he just lowered them, so that they would make a barrier between them, to make it easier for him to block any possible kicks she could have in store. 

Trini didn’t answer, she was too busy controlling her reflexes to fight him. She couldn’t afford a fight, she couldn’t risk getting into so much trouble. It was getting harder and harder to keep herself in check, her heart was beating wildly in her ears and she felt like she couldn’t breathe, not only from the clenched throat, but also from how close this guy was to her and how strong his cologne hit her nose. 

“You should come with me,” he said, his voice low in tone, but still loud enough to be heard by his pack of jocks. “We’ll skip this period, go under the bleachers. I can show you a good time.”

Her brain was too fuzzy with how fast the thoughts of different scenarios of Diana leaving her for escalating a fight went through it to come up with a response. 

“I know you want me,” he pulled her closer to him. “I can give it to you much better than he ever could.”

“Leave her alone, Ty!” Zack growled. 

“What? Can’t handle your girl wanting to fuck me, Trailer?”

“I wonder how you can handle your girl learning you are trying to stick it into everything that has a hole.”

Ty scoffed. “Like she would believe you!”

Before Zack could respond, Trini, using the guy’s loosened grip, jerked her hands free and delivered two fast punches into the boy’s chest. They weren’t hard enough to do real damage, she didn’t have good footing, but they were enough to make him stagger backwards, more in surprise than anything else. She didn’t wait around to see it play out, she instantly turned her back on him and started speed-walking away, Zack at her side. 

“You little bitch! You’ll be begging me to fuck you!”

Trini didn’t even register the words at first. Her only concern was to get away from the crowded hall and somewhere where there weren’t people staring at her in dead silence. She could feel her lungs clench painfully at the thought that everyone was watching, everyone had seen the whole thing play out. If Ty decided to go to the headmaster, he would have dozens of witnesses who would confirm that Trini hit him, and Trini had no doubt in her head that there were kids who actually filmed the whole thing on their phones. Maybe she’ll get punished for it. Could she get expelled for this? Could it be considered harassment when she was only protecting herself? Oh God, if Ty’s parents were influential, which they almost certainly were with how he acted, they could make a lot of trouble for her. They could take this whole thing to court! She’ll be sent to jail or juvie and Diana will give her up because she’s not worth all that trouble and then Trini will die alone in the streets of some city or town somewhere in the middle of California in her mid-twenties. 

Her breaths were coming fast and shallow, she knew that, even though she couldn’t really feel it. Her hands felt like somebody plunged them into a bucket of icy-cold water and tears stung in the corners of her eyes.

“Crazy Girl, are you okay?” she heard Zack ask, but it sounded distant, overpowered by the pounding of her heart in her ears. Her mouth went from completely dry to ‘gonna throw up’ salivated in what seemed like two seconds, her hands trembled uncontrollably, the tips of her fingers completely numb to every feeling. She had trouble getting her phone out of her pocket. 

She couldn’t do this, not here, not in school, not in front of everyone else. She just needed to hold out a few minutes, only a few minutes until her mom would come get her and then she can let go… but Diana didn’t know, Trini hasn’t called her yet, and with how much her fingers shook, she would not be able to call her, and Diana didn’t know so she couldn’t come, she won’t come get her and Trini will be left here, like this, for everyone to see, to stare at like an animal at the Zoo, and they will all laugh at her and make fun of her and Diana won’t come get her, and Trini will be here, alone and afraid and panicking for the rest of her life…

She registered the sign of the girls’ bathroom and she went straight for it like it held the answer to life itself. She slammed the door shut after herself and steadied herself on the counter that held the sinks, then a wall. She sank down onto the tiled floor, phone clutched in hands like it was the only thing keeping her alive. She tried to concentrate, to sable her fingers, but it still took her four tries to get her phone unlocked. After that, she was—relatively—fast to find her mom’s number in her contact list. 

Just as she pressed the green ‘call’ button on the screen, she heard the door to one of the stalls open. Someone was there, someone was seeing her all shaky and sweaty, on the floor, facing a panic attack. She’ll be laughed at, she’ll be hated, she’ll have to move again, and her mom has barely started her job, she herself has barely started school, she’s only gotten to know Zack for real, not just through a chat in a video-game and now they’ll have to up and leave again, just because she couldn’t keep her anxiety in check, and everyone will think she’s pathetic and Diana will hate her and possibly give her up…

“Hey. Hey, are you okay?” There was a girl kneeling in front of her, Trini could see her, hear her, but her brain couldn’t understand what it meant. “C’mon, what’s wrong?”

“A—Att… atta… p—pani…”Trini’s teeth clattered as she tried to force her lips and tongue to cooperate. 

There was a short moment of silence. 

“Your phone, you’re calling someone.” 

As if on cue, Trini’s fingers, which were until now gripping the device tightly, released her phone and it fell to the tiled ground with a clatter that shouldn’t be as loud as Trini thought it was. She tried to focus on something, anything, but the only thing she actually registered was the sharp contrast of the coldness of the wall at her back and the hotness of the tears streaming down her face. 

“May I take the call? It’s your mom.”

“Mom…” Trini mumbled back, remembering the kind face and the soft smile. She took a breath, the only deeper breath in what felt like an eternity, but she couldn’t get her hands to move, to reach her phone, her muscles just wouldn’t listen. 

She knew the girl took her phone and was now talking, but she didn’t know what she was saying, couldn’t make out the words. 

Suddenly there was a gentle hand on her shoulder, then on her face. The skin was soft and slightly cold against her own, but the touch made her feel somewhat grounded. “You’re okay. It’s alright, you’re gonna be fine. Your mom’s on the way, she’ll be here before you know it. It’s okay, little one.”

Mom. Little one. The words made Trini surge forwards. She grasped at the lithe body in front of her, fisting the fabric of the girl’s t-shirt like a lifeline. The words brought the feeling of safety, they were Diana’s, only she called Trini that, and that meant Diana was somehow near. Yet, the feel of the body under her hands was different, not wrong, not unwanted, but different, and the scent, while pleasing, floral one with spicy undertones, was not her mom’s. It wasn’t her mom holding her, it was some girl she didn’t even know. Trini tensed, her body wanting to fight the hands holding onto her. 

Sensing the change in Trini, the girl sneaked both her hands around her back and held her tight. “It’s okay, you’re safe. You’re good, you’re safe, good girl. Your mom is going to be here any moment now. Why don’t you tell me about her? Can you tell me about your mom, pretty girl?”

“Mom…” Trini whispered, her lips wet with saliva and her cheeks wet with tears. She pressed herself into the girl, her body deciding it wanted the closeness and warmth. “She’s good. Tall and pretty and so, so good. I’m gl-glad she took me and not s-some other kid. She’s loving. She cares. She’s so good to me, to everyone.”

“She sounds amazing.”

“She is.”

“What does she do?”

“She’s a history professor.”

The girl hummed. “She must love you very much.”

“She does. I don’t understand why, I don’t deserve it, I’m just—”

“You’re easily the smartest and the prettiest girl in this whole school. Everyone would love you.”

“They wouldn’t…”

“Tell me more about your mom,” the girl cut her off. “What’s her name?”

“Diana. Her name is Diana.”

“Did she tell you stories before bed?”

“She did,” Trini smiled wetly at the memory, “every night. Sometimes more than one.”

“Which one is your favourite?” 

Trini pondered the question for a moment, breathing in the flowery, spicy scent. She noticed, somewhere in the back of her mind, that her breaths weren’t as fast as before and her hands weren’t trembling as much, either. This girl was working miracles on her. 

“I like the one about Twin Flames.”

Judging by the silence that followed, the girl was taken aback. “I don’t know that one.”

“Mom used to tell me that story every day. Still does sometimes. It’s a nice story.”

“Can you tell me what it’s about?”

“It’s about how people got Twin Flames.”

“Is that like, soul-mates?”

“In a way,” Trini mused, her grip on the girl tightening. “But you can have many soul-mates. You can only have one Twin Flame.”

She burrowed her face into the crook of the girl’s neck, the warm of the skin pleasant against her cheek. Oh God, what was she doing? She was having a panic attack in a school bathroom with a random girl helping her through it by getting her to admit her mom still told her stories at seventeen. That was the worst possible idea she could have had! What was she thinking, getting into a conversation with a stranger? She should tell the girl to leave her alone, then she could wait for Diana here, alone and safe and alone…

“Hey there, pretty girl. If you don’t want to talk about it, fine, we’ll find something else to talk about.”

“I don’t want to talk,” Trini tried to detach herself from the girl, but there were two strong hands holding her in place, one securely wrapped around her back and the other gently cradling the back of her head. She could even feel somewhat short nails scratching at her scalp in a slow, soothing rhythm. 

“Alright then, you don’t have to talk, I’ll do all the talking.”

“Just leave me alone!” Trini tried to push herself away from the girl but to no avail. 

“Not gonna happen, pretty girl, stop fighting me. I don’t want to leave you alone, I want to stay with you. I want to, pretty girl,” the girl said and Trini stopped moving. She wanted to be with her? Like, wanted to? Could that even be real? Maybe… maybe she should wait, see how this pans out. “There we go. Now, this is more comfortable. I like holding you like this. Way nicer than having you squirming in my lap. I can actually cuddle you.”

“I don’t cuddle.”

“Okay, then I can just hold you while I tell you about this amazing place I found near the quarry, hmm?”

Settling into the secure embrace, Trini hummed. “I’d like that.”

The girl proceeded to tell her how she was hiking one day in the forest behind the old mine and how she fell, yes, literary fell, into a lake hidden in a thick bush of trees and under a tall cliff. The image the words painted in Trini’s mind was that of calmness and safety. She’s never been to the place, but she could almost see it in front of her as the girl talked. 

“Sounds amazing,” Trini said when the girl finished. 

“It is. I can show you one day.”

Trini could only nod in response. She liked the other girl’s voice, it was slightly raspy and somewhat on the lower side, and she had a distinct feeling that she’s heard it before, multiple times. But now it sounded like velvet, dark chocolate and the midnight sky, and Trini was hungry for more. At this point, it didn’t matter what the girl was saying, as long as she was saying something. 

She could still feel the anxiety, traces of the overwhelming fear that had clouded her mind just moments ago, it was now just a faint pulsing in her chest, the panic merely a coldness in the tips of her fingers. This wasn’t a strong attack, definitely not as strong as some she’s gone through in the past, and she was sure there would be another one in the next few days with how much stress and anxiety she’s bottled up in the past two weeks, but still, it was a panic attack and she’s battled through it far sooner than ever before. She wondered if it was due to the girl whose lap she was currently curled up in—how did she go from leaning against the wall to curling up in this girl’s lap?—but she didn’t have time to dwell on it, as the bathroom busted open. Trini tensed at the sound, at the thought of someone else seeing her like this, and she tried to get off the girl’s lap, but the hold on her back and head didn’t lessen. 

“Little one, are you okay?”

“Mom?” this time, when Trini tried to collect herself from the girl’s body, there was nothing stopping her. She bolted up and straight into her mom’s open arms.

“It’s alright, my love. I’m here. I’ve got you.”

“I’m okay, mom,” Trini said—whispered, her voice low and somehow raw. She took a breath of the familiar, comforting scent of sea and spring sun, and she immediately compared it to that flowery, spicy scent she’s been breathing moments ago. “I’m fine. It’s mostly gone.”

“I’m still taking you home.”

“Not gonna fight you on that.”

As if she just noticed the girl who was now standing behind Trini, Diana straightened her back and put on a smile that wanted to be brave and appreciative, but was instead mostly thankful. “Thank you for calling me. And for taking care of my daughter.”

“Thanks for guiding me through it,” the girl said, relief evident in her voice. “I would’ve most probably panicked if you weren’t telling me what to do.”  
Trini smiled at the girl’s nervous chuckle. 

 

“But you managed, so thank you,” Diana smiled. “If you need to be excused from your class, I can go see your teacher, explain…”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Well then, if there is any way I can repay you for this, just tell me.”  
“It’s okay, ma’am. Glad I could help,” the girl said, then she moved to get past Diana. She stopped and reached out to Trini. “Your phone,” she prompted when Trini didn’t move.

“Thanks,” Trini forced a short smile as she took the phone from the girl’s hand. 

“I’ll see you around,” the girl said, a small smirk playing on her lips, before she left the bathroom. Trini stared at her phone for a moment, anxiety once again rising in her chest. Did the girl leave just so she could tell all about this to her friends? Maybe they were already laughing at her…

“Come now, little one. Let’s go home.”

When they left the bathroom, Trini was instantly pulled into a hug. 

“Crazy Girl! What was that about? Why did you just leave me out here?”

“Lemme go, Zack! C’mon, you oaf!” she growled. When he didn’t show any signs of letting her go, she kicked his shin. 

“Ow! You’ve gotta stop doing that!”

“Then you should stop hugging me.”

“Not gonna happen, Tiny. Now, what was all that about?”

Trini bit her lip. Zack knew she had anxiety problems, but she hasn’t told him about the attacks. What if she’ll be too much for him to handle? What if he just up and leaves and she’ll stay all alone?

She could feel Diana’s warm hand grasp her own, slightly shaky one, in a gesture of support. This was her decision and whatever she chose, her mom would have her back.

Deciding that the brave shirt and grown-up pants were in order, Trini sighed. “Sometimes, when I get overwhelmed, or when I go through a lot of stress or emotional turmoil, or when I keep a lot of things in my head, I get panic attacks. This was one of them. When I get them, I always close myself somewhere out of sight to deal with them. That’s why I ran to the bathroom.”

“Damn, Crazy Girl. If I’d known, I would’ve helped.”

“Have you ever seen someone go through that before?”

“Well, eh, not really? But I could’ve helped! I would’ve called your mom!”

“Yeah, I tried that, too.”

“But, uhh, Crazy Girl?” Zack voiced when they started walking towards the entrance. 

Trini only hummed in response. 

“There didn’t happen to be a girl in the bathroom with you; long, black hair, white t-shirt…”

“There was a girl like that. She called me,” Diana answered when Trini stayed silent. She didn’t know what the girl looked like, she only remembered what she smelled like, sounded like. And now that she thought about it, it seemed kind of creepy. “She stayed with Trini until I arrived, helped her calm down.”

Zack stopped in his tracks. “You’re joking, right?”

“I am not. Why?”

“Cause if we’re talking about the same girl, that is the girl who came out of the bathroom before you two did, then that is Kimberly Hart.”

Trini frowned at the information. The name seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place it. “Okay, what should I do with the name? Send her a thank you card?”

“No, Tiny, you don’t understand! That’s Kimberly Hart, the Kimberly Hart! Head cheerleader in charge, rich girl extraordinaire. She’s, like, the meanest girl to ever meangirl.”

While Diana went to defend the girl, Trini only looked in front of herself, wondering what consequences will this encounter with Kimberly Hart have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s all for today. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep my updating schedule, again. The exam period is in which means studying, studying, studying for me (in fact, I have an exam tomorrow, I don’t know what I’m doing here, posting this when I should be knees deep in American literature…). Also, if I’m not mistaken, the New Year’s Eve is in two weeks and, contrary to the popular belief, even fanfic writers like to have a life on those special occasions. But I promise to post as soon as I can!
> 
> Now that my mini-rant is over, I hope you liked this chapter, if you did, feel free to leave a comment down below, or to find me on Tumblr on justalittlewritingnerd! 
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	8. There's never enough love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> I know, it’s been some time. There’s been a lot of things I needed to sort out (still do) which don’t allow much time for writing, unfortunately. But hey, I’m back! I didn’t forget about this story, and I’m planning on finishing it. How soon, I have no idea.   
> But enough chatter! Enjoy Diana time!

The next day saw them in the Prince house living room, both Trini and Zack comfortably sprawled over the big, leather chair and big, leather sofa respectively, both holding a controller and both growling out ordinary words meant as insults at each other, while Diana was in the kitchen. Zack has quickly learnt that Diana didn’t approve of curse words and, to Trini’s eternal delight and unspeakable amusement, he’s been trying not to use them, instead trying to come up with nicer bad words to replace curses with. Trying was the key word in that sentence, though, because Zack would end up saying something like ‘fu-uurnice!’ or ‘bi-each!’, or, Trini’s personal favourite for now, ‘go fuu-lfil yourself’. It was quite the comedy, and Trini liked to think that if Shakespeare was seeing it, he surely was feeling bummed that he himself couldn’t come up with this as an idea for one of his plays. 

  
Mr Cat lifted his head from his spot on Trini’s lap when Diana walked into the living room, a bowl with popcorn in one hand and phone in the other. She’s just finished her call, and according to the ‘of course you don’t’ she offered instead of a goodbye Trini guessed it was a call with aunt Ivy. Her mom placed the phone onto the coffee table and sat herself down on the free space at the end of the couch at Zack’s feet to watch them play Star Wars Battlefront. 

  
“Your aunts are planning on coming over,” Diana started offhandedly like it didn’t even matter.

  
“Do they really have to come over every time I have a panic attack?”

  
“No, they have to come over every time we move. You know how Ivy is, she’d have our heads if we didn’t invite them as soon as the house is presentable.”

  
“She just wants to check if we didn’t throw out the plants she always gives us,” Trini snickered, earning herself a half amused, half stern look from her mom.

  
“Ivy?” asked Zack with interest. Trini tried to reach out her foot to kick him to get him to shut up because that smirk on his face foretold nothing good, but he was sitting too far for her to reach him without moving too much, and she didn’t want to disturb Mr Cat so she couldn’t move too much. Of course, she would never, under any kind of torture, admit that she couldn’t reach him because she was just too short. “Wait, you showed me a photo once. Is that the hot redhead or the cute blonde?”

  
Both Prince women stared at him, then looked each other with similarly quirked brows. 

  
“Ivy would kill you as soon as look at you if she heard you talking about her girlfriend like that. Or any woman, for that matter,” Trini shrugged, earning a look from her mom. “And the ‘cute blonde’” here she made quotation marks with her left hand, “would probably smack you with a mallet. Although, with her, you never know. It’s either that or she’d give you a cookie.”

  
“What?” Zack frowned in confusion. 

  
“Eh, she’s unpredictable like that.”

  
“Wait, isn’t she a psychologist?”

  
“Psychiatrist,” Trini corrected him. “And those two are not mutually exclusive.”

  
“They should be.”

  
“Nah. It’s more fun this way.”

  
Zack watched her for a moment, allowing Trini to decimate his character with a clear head-shot. “Aww, damn! Dude! How do you know what sessions with her are like, anyway?” 

  
“I’m a troubled teenager with anxiety problems and panic attacks, and with an aunt who is trained at psychoanalysis and certified to prescribe medications—not that I take those anymore—so do you really think I’d go to some stuck-up white man shrink of a doctor to sit in silence in a leather chair for two hours a week?” she scoffed. Then she instantly looked at Diana, only briefly. Her anxiety rose slightly, like the sea with a tide, making her whole body shudder when she realised she probably shouldn’t have said so much and she instinctively searched for her mom to confirm that what she did was okay. She found Diana looking at her with a strange glint in her eyes, a one that Trini could only describe as pride. 

  
“Eh, makes sense, I guess. Will I meet them?”

  
“If you want to die, sure.”

  
“Trini,” her mom stepped in with only a hint of reprimand in her voice. “They are actually very nice.”

  
“Uh-huh, especially when they grill you for… oh, fudge-nuggets!” Trini cursed, letting the controller slip from her hands and fall onto the couch. Even Mr Cat stirred in her lap and dug his claws into her thigh, although whether it was in reproach or reminded that she shouldn’t move, she wasn’t sure. 

  
“What is it, little one?”

  
“Zack cannot be here when they’re here!”

  
“Why not? I won’t have any rude comments! I’ll behave!” the boy promised. 

  
“I am this close,” Trini pinched her thumb and forefinger together until there was only about a millimetre of space between them, “to scientifically proving that you are not physically able to behave, but that’s not my concern right now. When they see you here, they’ll know we are close.”

  
“As in, they’ll think we’re together? Don’t they know that you’re… that—err, about the—”

  
“What? Now you decide you have a problem with my sexuality?”

  
“What! No! I’m your lesbro, I would never!” he said, faking an offended gasp, to which Diana chuckled. Zack then looked at Trini with eyes full of honesty and care, then he looked at her mom briefly and Trini would swear she could see traces of fear in his face. “I just wanted to be, ya know, respectful and stuff.”

  
Trini swallowed. She hated moments like these, which felt important somehow and which required the correct dosage of emotional response, preferably a correct one, too. She hated these situations, because she never knew how to act, which emotion to show, what intensity of the emotion was required… there were so many things she could do wrong! Like now! What was the correct response to this? How should she feel about this rare act of respect from Zack? Should she be thankful? Happy? 

  
She was saved from the trouble of fighting through her struggle with the social interaction code by her mom. 

  
“You’re really sweet, Zack. Thank you.”

  
“Eh, don’t mention it,” Zack shrugged. “So, what would they think? Good boyfriend, bad boyfriend?”

  
“Zack. They are two women, one of them a lesbian, the other pansexual, who have been in a romantic relationship for longer than I have been on this planet, and both of their gaydars are nearly flawless. They knew I was gay before I knew what gay meant.” When he continued to stare at her—which she was absolutely sure he only did to spite her, because he wasn’t stupid—she rolled her eyes and growled: “They won’t think we’re together. But I’ve only mentioned you here and there, they don’t know you’re actually someone I tolerate in our house’s living room on a daily basis. That’s kind of a big deal for me.” 

  
“So they cannot see me because you didn’t tell them about me? You do realise how stupid that sounds.”

  
“They’ll have my head for it!”

  
“No, they won’t,” Diana chose that moment to intervene. “They are intense, at worst.”

  
“I should be used to that, dealing with this one,” Trini muttered, pointing her thumb at Zack. 

  
“Hey, rude! True, but still!”

  
“Just, if you meet them and they try to kill you, don’t take it personally.”

  
“Sure thing, Tiny,” Zack smirked. “Anyway, I guess I should be going. Lucy needs to head back to San Francisco and with how mom’s been having a harder time, I don’t want her to be alone.”

  
“Wait,” Diana stopped him before he could get up. She shot out of her seat and went to the kitchen, where, by the sounds of it, she was putting food into a container. “I’ll give you some enchiladas for you and your mom. I hope she’ll like them.”

  
Zack’s face turned red. “It’s okay, Ms P., you don’t have to do that. Mom and I are fine.”

  
“I made it with you and your mom in mind, Zack. Please, take it.”

  
“Ms P.—” Zack started, but Diana cut him off. 

  
“Zack, I don’t want to hear it.”

  
The boy stood up, the tips of his ears more pink than Trini’s ever seen them. On some level, she understood why he was so reluctant to accept the food, she would probably feel weird, too, if someone offered her dinner because she didn’t have the time or the energy to cook. Zack wasn’t in as bad of a financial situation as it might look, mostly thanks to his sister, and he was proud of himself for being able to help provide for himself and his mom. On the other hand, Trini knew that her mom wasn’t trying to hurt his pride or to suggest he needed charity. She just wanted to be nice to her daughter’s friend. Besides, it was Diana Prince, she always looked out for other people. 

  
Diana walked over to Zack and handed him a plastic bag with containers of food. “Here you go. I thought you’d be staying over for dinner today.”

  
“Some other time, Ms P.”

  
“I’ll hold you to that. If it doesn’t happen soon, I’ll hunt you down,” Diana teased with a smile. 

  
Trini watched with wide eyes as Zack grinned up at her mom and said: “No problem, Ms P! I’ll be here so much you’ll want to kick me out!” 

  
Diana’s laugh at that shocked Trini so much that even when Zack leaned down to hug her, she didn’t protest. Then, with a yell of ‘Bye, Crazy Girl!’ he left, leaving a stunned Trini and a chuckling Diana in his wake. Mr Cat didn’t seem to appreciate the commotion, as he jumped down from his spot on Trini’s lap and walked over to the window, where he sat on the windowsill. Trini watched him for a moment, trying to decipher the conversation. On an autopilot, she went to turn off the gaming console and returned back to the armchair, where Diana was already curled up. With one pull on her hand, her mom got Trini to sit down and squeeze herself into the space her mom’s body left free for her, and instantly, there was a hand softly running through her hair in a calming motion. Burying her face into her mom’s neck, Trini sighed. She was certain Diana had some sort of superpower that allowed her to know when Trini wanted, or needed, a good cuddle. 

  
They stayed like that for a moment, content. Then Diana nosed at the crown of Trini’s head and placed a soft kiss into her hair. “Little one? What’s wrong?”

  
“Nothing’s wrong. Just…” Trini pulled herself from the safe space of her mom’s neck, only enough to be able to look her in the face. “Can you, please, stop flirting with my best friend?”

  
Diana laughed, loud and carefree, and pulled Trini close to her once again. “I was not flirting with him, little one. If I were, you would know it. Besides, he is not my type. He’s too young and wild.”

  
Trini grumbled: “If that wasn’t you flirting, I don’t even want to know what it would look like if you were.”

  
“Showing your affection is nothing to be afraid of. You just need to be open and honest about it,” Diana said calmly. Trini hummed and cuddled even closer to her. She could hear as Mr Cat gave a soft mewl from the windowsill as if he was agreeing with Diana. “It’s okay to like someone. It’s good to love. And although I am happy you have Zack, I’m not talking about him.”  
“If you’re about to tell me I should look for some cute girl and girlfriend her, don’t.”

  
“I was going for a kind badass instead of a cute girly-girl, but if you don’t want me to say anything…” Diana shrugged, then she pressed another short kiss into her daughter’s hair. “It’s not only about that, little one. A loved one can help you in many ways. They might give you a new love for many things in life, a new appreciation for everything. They may even help with your anxiety. It’s a beautiful thing, to love.”

  
“I love you, isn’t that enough?” Trini asked, her voice low and somewhat grumpy. She reminded even herself of a little child who just didn’t want to accept that something they have believed in their whole life just wasn’t true. The thought made her even more grumpy. 

  
“There’s never enough love, little one.”

  
“Really? So how come you don’t have anyone to love?”

  
“Anyone?” Diana chuckled. “I have you. That’s all I need.”

  
“You said there’s never enough love,” Trini protested, “you should love someone else, too.”

  
“Hmm. Would you like me to ask Zack out for dinner?”

  
“Mom!”

  
Diana laughed. “I’m only teasing you, little one.”

  
There was a moment of silence, which Trini used to let everything sort out in her head. She breathed in her mom’s scent, briefly thinking back to a faint memory of flowers and spices that seemed to come from a dream, before she let out a sigh. “But really. I cannot remember you ever mentioning someone. Why?”

  
“What, do you want to get rid of me?” Diana asked with a teasing tone in her voice. The carefree expression soon left her face, however, to give way to a concerned one. “Are you trying to tell me to get you another parent? Do you feel like you need a father figure, or…”

  
“Wha—no! Mom! Just, no! I’ve never wanted any other parent! I mean, sure, having a dad might have been nice when all the other kids bullied me for not having one, but, mom, you’re more than enough. I love you! I don’t want anyone else, you’re my mom, you’re all I need, all I’ve ever needed! You’re my own, personal Wonder Woman.”

  
“Wonder Woman,” Diana hummed, still somewhat unsettled by the thought that her daughter might have needed another parent. “I like that. I can be your Wonder Woman. And I love you, too, my darling.”  
Trini nuzzled into her mom’s neck again. “Good. But, what I meant was that I’ve never seen you with anyone. You’ve never told me about anyone, you’ve never come home late, as far as I know, you haven’t been on a date since you took me in! I just… I don’t know, I thought you would want someone to love.”

  
“You’ve never talked about anyone, either,” Diana countered.

  
“Maybe, but I am seventeen.”

  
“And I’m forty.”

  
“Still thirty-nine!” 

  
“For just eight more months.”

  
“That’s almost a whole year! And my point is that, well, you’re thirty-nine.”

  
“Are you saying I’m old?”

  
“No!” Trini tried to backtrack quickly, although she did see the laughter in her mom’s eyes. “I’m trying to say that you’re older. Than me, I mean. Older than me. So, therefore—”

  
“You must be proud of yourself for using that word,” Diana teased. 

  
“Yeah, it’s like using ‘indeed’ in an essay,” Trini grinned. “But, as I was saying, since you’re older than me, and I still have loads of time to try and find someone, we should focus on you and finding someone for you, before you get to grill me about my relationships.”

  
“I’m not grilling you,” Diana defended half-heartedly. “Are you that eager to—how do you young people say it?” she smirked, eyeing Trini with amusement in her eyes. “Ah! Get me off your back, is it? Did I say it correctly? You’ll have to excuse me, apparently, I am too old to know how modern people speak.”

  
“Fine,” Trini grumbled, “I get your point, you don’t wanna talk about it.”

  
“Little one, there is nothing to talk about. You cannot force love.”

  
“The Beauty and the Beast begs to differ. And so does Mr Cat, he pretty much forced us to love him.”

  
“The Beauty and the Beast is a fairytale, there is bound to be love in there. Although to be honest, it’s more of a Stockholm syndrome than love in that particular fairytale. And Mr Cat is different, he’s a cat, he’s cute, that’s why we love him. But to love a person is… it’s beautiful in a way I cannot even describe to you.”

  
“Is it? I thought people were not able to love. I mean, sure, there are those who can, but with all the hate and ignorance that’s going on, I thought they forgot how to do that.”

  
“They are able to love, little one, and that love comes in many shapes, forms and sizes. They love as friends, like you do Zack, and don’t say you do not love him, I know you.”

  
“Whatever,” Trini muttered but didn’t argue, because her mom was right with that, at least on some level. 

  
“They love as parents and children, like I love you,” Diana continued as if Trini didn’t say anything. “They love as siblings. They love as people. They love as lovers. And sometimes, sometimes they simply love because of love. That is beautiful and it will continue to be beautiful as long as people have the sense of solidarity, loyalty and love for each other.”

  
“Some people don’t deserve that. Love.”

  
“It’s not about deserve, it’s about—”

  
“About what you believe in,” Trini joined in with her mom. 

  
“Yes,” Diana smiled, kissing the top of Trini’s head. “And what do you believe in?”

  
Trini was quiet for a moment, pondering the question. There were many things she believed, but only a few of them mattered in this particular context. No, not few. Only one. Looking up at her mom, Trini smiled. “I believe in you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s all for today. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, please let me know. I don’t know when I’ll manage to update next. I’ll try to do so in two weeks’ time, but everything depends on how I’ll do on my exams. 
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	9. Unstick your head out of your ass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> Another chapter’s here! Honestly, I don’t know what I’m doing with this story anymore, I have an exam tomorrow (a retake, ‘coz I failed it the first time), which I’m probably gonna fail. Yet here I am, posting and writing instead of studying. 
> 
> Oh well.
> 
> Anyways, it’s Billy time! And then some Kimberly time as well! The story is slowly gaining a plot, I think. That's good, right?
> 
> Enjoy!

It was a lunch break on an uneventful Tuesday, almost a whole week after the whole ‘panic attack Friday’ thing. Zack wasn’t at school, he had texted Trini in the morning that his mom wasn’t feeling well and he didn’t want to leave her home alone. Trini had answered that if she knew where he lived, she would’ve come over after school, to which he went suspiciously silent. Accepting that as a sore topic, Trini asked him to give his mom her regards and instead of probing, she started to focus on surviving school all by her lonesome.

She cursed under her breath—that is, if the words ‘sugar-honey-ice-tea’ she had from watching Madagascar could be considered a curse—when she stepped into the cafeteria. Most of the tables were already taken, the only ones free were on the other side of the room, at the back, which meant she would have to pass the main table of the school’s nobility on her way there. The table itself was pretty harmless, but the Sinister six, consisting of Amanda, Kimberly, and their four cheerleader lackeys, already seated there was another story altogether.

The good thing was that the lady serving the food was one of those kind, older ladies who liked Trini, for some inexplicable reason, so when her turn came, she got a warm smile, extra rice and even a surprising pack of M&M’s on her plate. She wasn’t given an explanation, the lady only told her to enjoy her meal, so Trini didn’t question it and departed on her mission to find herself a table with a thank you and a grateful smile.

She tried to be quick—and invisible—when she passed the table where the cheerleaders sat. She didn’t need a confrontation with the Sisterhood of Evil Cheerleaders in front of half of the school. But, as it often did, the universe took her wishes and wants, crumpled them up like an old printer would a sheet of paper, and threw them into the Corner of Bad Ideas. She was spotted. Perhaps she should really invest in some good quality invisibility cloak. Maybe Uncle Bruce could make one for her at Wayne Tech if she asked very nicely…

“Surprised to see you here, four-footer!” Amanda the Cheerleader sneered at her. “I thought they were deporting you last Friday! Then again, they wouldn’t send anyone in a car that nice to get your ugly Mexican ass out of here!”

The whole table erupted in laughs and ‘ooh’s. The only person not to laugh was Kimberly, who was currently dressed in a leather vest and a white v-neck which showed off the pinkish-purple straps of her bra—they seemed to create a strangely enticing pattern on her upper chest, not that Trini noticed or paid any attention to that. Instead of laughing, Kimberly leaned over to Amanda and quietly said something to her. That prompted a short, albeit passionate staredown between the two. Amanda averted her eyes and got back to her food, to what all the other cheerleaders did the same. Kimberly lifted her eyes up and gave Trini a soft half-smile.

Trini, on her part, was completely at a loss. Did the head cheerleader just stop her sisters in blue pom-poms from bullying her? But why would she? Trini sill owed her for that bathroom incident, she figured it could be paid in a free bullying pass for a week or something similar. Then again, Kimberly was a cheerleader, there was probably more to it than her just being nice.

Deciding not to dwell on it, Trini just went on her merry way towards the back of the room. She managed to snag a table for herself, which she was happy for. Just the idea of having to ask someone if she could sit with them made her anxious.

She was just getting started on her meal when she noticed the commotion in the lunch hall. There were a few chuckles and someone calling a ‘freak’ out to ‘try and blow yourself up next time instead of your lunch-box’. That was enough for Trini to realise this was about the Billy boy Zack’s mentioned before. Curious, she lifted her head up and looked around. There was a blond guy in ragged clothes, who clearly thought he meant something, and a taller, African-American boy in a blue sweater which a somewhat confused look on his face. She vaguely remembered seeing the boy, presumably Billy seeing as he didn’t look like the bully type, around the school before.

All the commotion stopped as suddenly as it started. The blond bully turned his head just as the football team, led by the sandy-haired boy from Trini’s European History class, came into the hall, and he quickly scurried away. Trini expected the football jocks to take over where Goldilocks lest off, but they just sat down at the table of the Sisterhood of Evil, leaving Billy boy blue alone. Trini watched as he, with a look of determination in his face, started making his way through the hall, seemingly searching for a table. She watched him look around, walk around, like a lost puppy. All the other kids ignored him or outright told him to get lost, not even giving him the chance to speak. Nobody wanted to sit with a weird kid. But he did look nice and harmless, and Trini did promise her mom she would try, so…

She waved at him, but he only cocked his head to the side, like he didn’t understand. She even tried to show him that he could sit down at her table, but he just looked away. Seriously, what was wrong with that kid?

When he walked closer to her table—closer as in he was standing only a few feet away from it—she decided to take drastic measures. She licked her lips, cleared her throat, if only to buy herself some more time, then she said: “You can sit with me if you want.”

The boy turned to face her, his movements somehow fast, jerky. He looked at her with confusion in his dark eyes, like he didn’t really understand, then a smile broke out on his face. He rushed over to her table, placed his tray of food reasonably far from Trini’s own and clapped his hands excitedly, like a small child, before he sat down.

“Hi! Thank you! Everywhere else was taken and people usually don’t like to sit with me. They always mind everything I do…”

Great. The one time Trini actually decided to try and make a friend, she chose a chatterbox. Well, she can always just pretend to have been polite in letting him sit with her and just go on with her routine of ignoring the rest of the student body if he turns out to be unbearable.

“It’s no problem,” she said, looking down at her food. She wasn’t a master of social interactions, she didn’t know how to handle them and that piqued her anxiety.

“Oh! I’m William Cranston. But people call me Billy. Well, kids used to call me cramston as a third-grade joke, as in ‘crams tons of crayons in his butt’, which would be impossible. You cannot do that, your body wouldn’t be physically able to endure it—” suddenly, Billy cut himself off, like something struck him, then he looked at Trini. “I’m sorry. My mom always says I talk a lot.”

“’S okay,” she forced herself to smile. “I’m Trini, by the way.”

He gave her a bright smile and opened his mouth as if to say something—or ask, according to the rise of his eyebrows—but he quickly closed it. He frowned and turned his head down to his tray. Trini noticed a bag of M&M’s there, too.

She watched for a moment as he systematically divided the food in front of him by colour, then by size, with a look of pure concentration on his face, like it was the most important task he could’ve been given. That’s when it downed on her that he wasn’t a chatterbox, just somehow different from the rest of the kids in this school. Which wasn’t a bad thing, of course.

“So, uh,” Trini started, unsure of what to say. “What’s the deal with Goldilocks over there?” she nodded to the blond boy who harassed Billy earlier.

Billy, however, didn’t follow the direction of the gesture. “I’m sorry, I don’t know anyone by that name. Well, there was the fairytale about Goldilocks, but I didn’t like those much as a child, so I really cannot answer your question.”

“I meant the blond guy who harassed you earlier.”

“Ah!” realisation flashed on his face. “That’s Colt Wallace. He’s been doing that for years. Of course, not as much since Jason stepped in, but—”

“Why does he do it?” Trini interrupted him as gently as she could.

Billy didn’t seem to mind being cut off. He just looked at Trini with those big, brown, honest eyes and said: “I’m on the spectrum.”

Trini nodded in understanding. That explained a lot of things about his behaviour.

“That means my mind works differently than others’,” he continued his explanation, “I don’t understand most of the jokes people make, or the references. My mind doesn’t make the connection between certain word groups and the concepts behind them. I also cannot understand some social clues, I don’t notice—”

“Billy,” she said gently. “I know what it means. It’s okay.”

He gave her a smile so innocent it reminded her of a puppy or a little kid, then his expression turned into a proud one. “But I remember things!” he proclaimed. “I remember everything! Well, almost everything. And I’m good at studying! That’s why Jason studies with me most of the time. But we cannot sit together in school. I want to sit with him, but he always sits with his team, and I don’t want to sit with them. But I don’t want Jason to leave his friends because of me…”

He trailed off. He then proceeded to open the bag of M&M’s on his tray, rambling forgotten. He seemed more concentrated on the little colourful pieces of candy than anything else. Trini watched with fascinated curiosity as he dutifully separated them into piles by colours and arranged them around him in a half-circle, from yellow to orange to red to pink to purple to blue to green to brown to black. Billy, either oblivious or ignorant to Trini’s eyes on him, then proceeded to divide each stack into smaller groups of four. When Trini realised the pattern, she also realised it wouldn’t work. He had nine blue ones, ten yellow ones and only three pink and green ones. He wouldn’t be able to put them into stacks of four without combining different colours together, not with only his own bag. Trini remembered, at one of her previous schools, seeing an autistic kid break into a crying fit because she couldn’t do something she really wanted to. And while Billy seemed calm and able to control himself, she really didn’t want to put it to test. Besides, if she could help him, maybe she could get a kind of friend out of it, and a kind-of-friend was better than nothing on days when Zack couldn’t be at school. Not to mention she actually did want to help him—he looked like a sweet guy and contrary to what she would like others to believe, she wasn’t heartless.

Sneaking glances at Billy to see if he noticed her at all, she pulled her own pack of the sweets onto her lap and opened it. A quick check proved she had enough correctly coloured candy to help him out. Good.

And just in time, too. Billy frowned at the uncooperative candy in front of him, then he looked around quickly and frowned at the M&M’s again. He looked like a puppy trying to lift a boot that was just too heavy for it.

Trini cleared her throat. “What’s wrong?”

He snapped his head up to look at her, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging slightly open. “Oh! Nothing. I just don’t have enough pieces to… nevermind, it doesn’t matter.”

“You can take some of mine,” she offered him her bag.

He looked somewhat conflicted for a short second, then he smiled brightly. “Thank you! But I don’t want to take other people’s things. It makes me anxious when I borrow something.”

Trini could relate to that feeling all too well. “All right, so let’s trade.”

“Trade?”

“Yeah! You give me the ones you don’t need and take the ones you do. That way you won’t borrow or take anything of mine, you’ll buy it. Sort of.”

He gave her the sweetest, purest smile. “Okay!”

They spent the rest of the lunch break talking. Well, Billy talked, mostly. And boy, did he have a lot to say! And about so many things, too! But he was a good talker, he spoke about interesting things and with a passion, so Trini not only didn’t mind listening to him, she quite enjoyed it.

She sighed when she looked at her watch and realised she only had five minutes until the next lesson started. “I’m sorry, Billy. I have to go. Still need to get a few things from my locker. I’ll see you later? Tomorrow, at lunch?”

“Sure thing!” he gave her the brightest smile yes. “Have a good day!”

“Thanks, you too.”

And with that, she left for her locker. She was better at navigating the school now, but it still took her long enough to find the correct one. Her anxiety from not having enough time was doubled when she realised there were strong footsteps echoing behind her. The hairs at the back of her neck stood up and a shiver run down her spine. Someone was following her. There were a lot of kids around, she assured herself, it was nothing. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t important enough for someone to go out of their way only to scare her a little. Still, there was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind that this did, in fact, have something to do with her. If she was lucky enough, it was just some student minding their own business. But years of experience had shown that she was not a lucky person, so chances were that the someone was actually following her, and that the someone was a part of the Sisterhood of Evil Cheerleaders.

Determined not to pay any attention to the person, she speed-walked through the halls until she found her locker. The feeling was still there, though, and not even the small side glances she took on her way could tell her who was after her. The only thing she knew was that they didn’t let up and that they were close.

There was the sound of someone clearing her throat an then a very familiar voice said: “Err, excuse me. I’m—ah… are you—er—Didi?”

Rolling her eyes—because really? Didi? What were they going to call her next? Pikachu? Sancho Panza?—she turned to face none other than Kimberly Hart. “It’s Trini. Not that you’ll remember.”

A sour look crossed Kimberly’s face and her eyes moved from Trini to somewhere else, back and forth until it was almost distracting. She was squeezing the strap of her leather bag tightly with both hands, thumbs twitching and fumbling. The muscles in her legs were bulging visibly above her knees and in her shins, where the leather skirt didn’t cover them. The tips of her shoes went up and down, like she was curling her toes matching some weird rhythm no-one else could hear. Even her face was subjected to this strange dance. The tips of her lips jerked up and down like she couldn’t decide if she wanted to smile or not and her eyebrows furrowed, then quirked up like she didn’t know if she wanted to frown.

Suddenly, all that turned into a nervous, open-mouthed, albeit somehow crooked smile that showed her teeth. “I’m K—I’m Kimberly.”

“I know,” Trini shot back. At the surprised look she got from the cheerleader, she shrugged. “Everyone does.”

“Right,” Kimberly nodded, furrowing her brows. “Look, I’m sorry for disturbing you—” Trini had to bite her tongue not to cut the fast rambling with a crude ‘then don’t’ that wanted to crawl out of her throat “—but I need your help. Well, not need need, I can survive without it, and not yours, specifically, I mean, I could always ask someone from the squad to help me find someone, or something similar, but I don’t want to, so I’m here. I, eh, need some help. With school. I’m taking World History, although I don’t really like history, but I needed the credits and I thought, y’know, it’d be easy. It’s not. And I can’t let my grades slip because of the cheer squad and college, and most students who offer tutoring are only available in the times when I have cheer practice, and they’re not willing to meet up at any other time, not that I blame them, ‘coz I don’t, y’know, they want to have some time for themselves, too. And those who said they could make time are pervs who would want to grope me in exchange for helping me, or something like that, so I can’t go to them, either. And a friend of mine, he has European history with you, Jason? Not sure if you know him. Anyway, he said you were amazing at history, so I thought I’d try asking you, ‘coz, what’s the worst that can happen? You’ll tell me to go fuck myself, nothing I haven’t heard before. So, err, here I am. Asking you for tutoring. In history.”

Trini stared, her brain working in overdrive to understand what Kimberly just said.

“Is this a joke?”

“N-no! Of course not!” Kimberly frowned.

“Then it’s a payback for last Friday.”

“What? No! No, it’s not!” the cheerleader insisted, shaking her head. “You were having a panic attack, I would never ask you, or anyone else, to pay me back for helping them with something like that!”

Trini just quirked an eyebrow at her, unconvinced.

“Okay,” Kimberly sighed, letting out a small, humourless chuckle. “Why would you think I would want someone to pay me back for helping with something like that?”

“You’re a cheerleader,” Trini answered without missing a beat.

Kimberly scoffed. “So every cheerleader is a cold-hearted bitch by default?”

“In my experience, yes.”

The cheerleader breathed out a humourless chuckle. “I thought you would be different. But no, you’re just as judgemental as everyone else,” Kimberly proclaimed. She then reached into her bag and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. “You know what?” she scribbled something onto the paper and handed it to Trini. “Here’s my number. When, or if, you decide to unstick your head out of your ass, text me and we can work something out.”

With that, Kimberly walked away, leaving a very stunned Trini in her wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s all for today. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, if you did, let me know. Once my finals are over in two weeks, I should have some more time for writing, and I’ve been thinking about a few ideas for a new story. Let me know if you’d like to read more from me! 
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	10. When are they coming over?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> We’re here with another chapter! I honestly thought this would take me way longer than it did to write. But it’s here! 
> 
> Quick update: I’ve passed all my exams! Wehoo! 
> 
> The endnotes are a tad bit longer than I like them, but I wanted to clarify some things. So if you’re confused about something, I recommend you read the notes. Or you can just write to me on tumblr! 
> 
> Now, enjoy!

It was Saturday, the day was more than hot—for mid-October in California—and Trini was really looking forward to staying in her room, only in a long T-shirt and underwear, playing a game that she hasn’t yet decided on. It was a great plan, a one that she was very proud of and a one that she was going to follow through with to the letter. Unfortunately, it would have to wait until she’s done all her chores, but that was merely a minor obstacle. She’s already cleaned the small pool behind the house—with the pretended help from Zack, who spent most of the morning just lying around on the rim of the pool in his shorts while Trini was scrubbing away before he went home to check on his mom—and there was nothing else time-consuming to do. Besides, she always did her chores with her mom, while they listened to those jazzy and vintage songs her mom liked so much, and Trini very much enjoyed spending time with Diana. There was always something to talk about, and they would usually make it funny, too.

This particular Saturday afternoon, they spoke about Trini’s aunts.

“So,” Trini said as she placed the mop and the bucket of soapy water on the wooden floor in the living room, “when are they coming over?”

Diana chuckled from her spot on in the kitchen, where she was currently unloading the dishwasher. “Do they ever let you know?”

“They let you know, not me,” Trini half-grumbled, eyeing her mom, who had that tell-tale grin on her face. “You know!”

“I’m sorry, little one, I promised I would keep it a secret and you know what your aunt is like about promises,” Diana said apologetically. She then closed the dishwasher with a resolute ‘click’ and walked over to Trini.

“They made you promise all the other times, too, didn’t they?”

Instead of an answer, all Trini got in response was a guilty smile.

“Mom! You’re supposed to stick with me! And that entails telling me things like this!”

“No, I’m supposed to love you and care for you,” Diana laughed, pulling Trini into a loving hug. “Which I do. I don’t have to stick with you. And I don’t have to tell you things like that.”

“You’re terrible and I hate you,” Trini frowned up at her mom, but she burrowed herself deeper into her embrace, taking fistfuls of her mom’s t-shirt and squeezing it tightly in her hands. She snuggled her face against the strong shoulder and let out a content sigh. “So… when are they coming over?”

Diana chuckled again. “I’m not telling you, stop trying.”

Trini grumbled and squeezed her mom one last time before letting go. “Just for that, I’m leaving you here with this mop and I’m not helping you with anything in the living room!”

“But you’re still doing the dishes after dinner.”

“Can’t I cook instead?”

Diana smirked teasingly. “Are you sure you won’t melt all our pots?”

“I don’t make stuff that spicy!”

“Little one, if the doctors didn’t have you fully examined under X-ray and whatnot, I would think your stomach is made of lead.”

“Just because I like spicy food, I don’t have to instantly have my digestive system made out of burning lava, nor do I have to breathe fire!”

“I’m pretty sure it would be called magma, not lava,” her mom chuckled as she wrapped her fingers around the handle of the mop. “Honestly, I don’t know where you get that from. Definitely not my side of the family.”

“I’m a dragon,” Trini smiled cheekily.

“Yes, you are,” Diana placed a soft kiss on the crown of Trini’s head. “But a pocket version. Now, fly away, my little dragon, and think about what you want to make for dinner!”

“Yes, dragon-mama.”

Trini ran up the stairs and into her room. She quickly got out of her pants, turned on her trusty PS4 and threw herself onto her favourite yellow bean-bag, a controller in hand and a content hum in her throat. She chose the first game that caught her eye—the original Assassin’s Creed game. She enjoyed that one the most, even though she’s beaten it a few times already. She especially enjoyed it when Zack tried his hand at it and threw the controller to her after the first three minutes because the controls were too difficult and illogical for him.

She was about two hours into the game, and she was just thinking she should get down to start on dinner when there was a specific knock on the door. She knew the knock well, it was a little tune that only one person used, and it always made Trini smile as brightly as her cheeks allowed her to.

She finished the tune with the words ‘come in’.

The door burst open and in strode a blond woman, clad in a red-and-black tank-top and short, black, ripped jean shorts. The sneakers she had on were also both in red and black respectively and the tips of her hair, which was pulled into her signature twin ponytails, were light-pink on one side, baby-blue on the other. Her blue eyes skimmed over the room quickly, before they stopped on Trini and sparkled with happiness and excitement.

“Hey there, little Tiger!” the woman greeted, her voice slightly higher-pitched and with a thick, Brooklyn accent. She went to say something more if the deep breath she took was any indication, but instead, she let out a heavy ‘oof’ when Trini basically tackled her and hugged her as hard as she could. The woman didn’t let it slide, she wrapped her hands around the teenager and squeezed just as hard.

“Next time,” Trini said with a pout and an elbow to the woman’s ribs after they let go of each other, “tell mom to let me know when you’ll arrive, okay?”

“Nah, this is much more fun! I get to scare the controller outtaya hands and ya always get this adorkable look in yar face!”

“It’s not fun for me, Harley!” Trini protested. “And I’m not adorable. I’m badass.”

Harley looked over her like she was pondering the words, then she shook her head with a wide, toothy grin. “Nope! Ya’re like me! Always adorable! Unless ya’ave a badass baseball bat or a really big-ass mallet…” she muttered the last part with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“You know, if my mom heard you—”

“I’m not afraid of yer mom, Tiger! Yer mom’s my sistah. Ivy, on the other hand… oh! Ye still playin’ that game I got ya! Geez, it’s been years since I got it! Ivy and yer mom wanted ta make Harley-dogs outta me when they found out I bought ya such a violent game. Like they didn’t know me.”

“I know, right?” Trini smirked up at her aunt. “Hey, wanna play some Call of Duty?”

“Ya wanna go down again?”

“Again? Ha! You beat me one time! After you almost twisted my wrist, I might add, so it doesn’t count!”

Trini turned off the Assassin’s Creed game and went to put CoD on. She produced another controller and set up the game, while Harley looked around.

“It’s a nice place ya got here,” the blond remarked. “Oooh, ya still have all of Ivy’s plants! She’ll be glad to know that… Who painted that wall?”

“A friend painted the wall, then mom and I painted the maps.”

“A friend? And I don’t know anything about them? How could that happen?”

Trini handed her aunt the spare controller. “You haven’t called or texted in over two months, which I am still mad for, by the way.”

“Yah, sorry ‘bout that. There were some problems in NY, Tony got inta trouble, Goat Boy almost got himself arrested… Not to mention Ivy and the trouble at Gotham Botanical Gardens what with her boss being killed and all that jazz. I feel like I spent more time in a plane flying between NY and Gotham than on the ground! There was lots goin’ on, tiger. I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah, I read about GBG. Are there any clues on what might have killed her?”

“They say poison. The police even marked Ivy as a suspect. Ivy! My Pam-a-lamb! She loved her boss, she wouldn’t do that ta the poor gal!”

Trini hummed in agreement, looking at the screen. “What else is new?”

“Nothin’ much.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” Trini pressed.

Harley eyes her. “Are you sure it’s me who’s the psychiatrist here? But yea there is somethin’. I—I haven’t talked about it with Pammy yet—I mean, I have, like, some time ago, when everything was just hypothetical and not real, like, we were just jokin’ around, mostly, or we were just talkin’, y’know, what things would be like…”

“Oh, c’mon, just spill already!” Trini shoved her lightly with a smirk on her face. Then she focused on the screen where, after a few silent seconds, the sound of gunfire came and Harley’s character went down. “Yeah! You’re dead! In your face, blondie!”

“Ah, c’mon! Two outta three?”

“Sure,” Trini shrugged. “Now spill.”

“All right, all right, just—don’t scream, or yell, or anythin’, okay?” Harley’s eyes moved from the game, again in progress, to Trini to the game again, until Trini paused it and focused solely on her aunt. “I wanna ask her to marry me.”

The controller fell out of Trini’s hands and clattered loudly against the wooden floor, the noise disturbing to the ears in the deep silence.

“You—you do? When?”

“I don’t know yet. I have the ring and everythin’, I’m just waitin’ for the right moment, I guess,” Harley shrugged, like just talking about it wasn’t making her nervous and excited. She was quiet after that, looking at the TV without really looking at it. She appeared to be lost in thoughts. Trini had to bite her lip to keep herself from bombarding her with questions. “I didn’ really wanna do it. I mean, when I was younger, I didn’ mind the idea, but after… anyway, I didn’t want to. It was always Pammy’s dream, sort of, ta have a family, a spouse, kids, all that. She’s never really forgiven me for giving Lucy up.” She shook her head, sniffled a little, then she looked back at Trini with eyes wet from tears, but determined, and only a little pleading. “But, yeah, that’s not what we’re supposed to be talking about right now.”

“But I want to talk about it! You just told me I could actually attend a wedding! Not just a wedding, your wedding! I want to know more!”

“I know, Tiger. But nothin’ has been decided yet. I promise you’ll be first ta know if there’s any development. Besides, yer mom sent me here ta make sure you are okay with the move, the school, y’know, the usual.”

“She told you about my panic attack,” Trini dampened.

“She did not, actually. But now that ya started it, tell me more about it.”

Trini sighed, but she relaxed against the bean-bag, just like Harley did. Trini liked this. It was easy. Harley never went full doctor mode on her and they always just talked. It was their way, and Trini was glad for it.

“I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

“Ya tend to do that, Tiger,” Harley said affectionately. “Now, put on another round and tell me more about this panic attack.”

“What, so you can do some psychiatring on me?”

“My main reason is ta get yer mom offa my back, but sure.”

“You tell my mom about these talks?!”

“Nah. Patient-doctor confidentiality. But yer momma’s like a lie detector, she would know if we didn’t really talk. So spill.”

“There’s nothing to tell, really. I’ve been under a lot of stress with the move and new school, and dealing with Zack…”

“Zack?”

“Yeah, the guy I play online games with? I told you about him. That’s Zack. And by some strange coincidence, he actually lives here, in this town. So now I have to deal with him every day and he’s as annoying as they get.”

“More annoying than Ed’s Green Book of Riddles?”

“Oh, I’d take his riddles over Zack any time!” Trini declared as she pressed the buttons on her controller in quick succession.

“I know you would, you love riddles. That reminds me,” Harley dropped her computer and pulled out her phone, tapping at the screen quickly, “I’ve got a new one! I lose my head in the morning and regain it back at night. What am I?”

“Hmm,” Trini took a short moment to think about it. “Easy. A pillow.”

“You’re good,” Harley smiled, but that was short-lived, as her character went down again with just one shot from Trini’s own.

“Got you again, blondie!”

“Three outta five?”

“I know what you’re doing here,” the brunette accused, yet, she started a new match.

“And what exactly is that?”

“Trying to get me to lose focus so that I’d tell you more. You’ve been doing that since my first attack.”

Harley chuckled at that. “We’ve been having gamin’-talkin’ sessions since before that. But ya’re wrong, I’m not tryin’a trick ya inta saying stuff. I just like gamin’ with you. It’s a bondin’ experience.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Pammie used to take ya out to the parks and woods to tell ya all about the plants and the trees and those fairytales ya liked so much, yah mom does whatever yah mom does with ya, I needed somethin’ that would be just ours, your an’ mine. Ya only tell me stuff ‘coz ya’re comfortable with me. I guess it does have somethin’ to do with ya not stoppin’ gamin’ with me when ya reached the adult age of fourteen like ya did with Pam.”

Trini shrugged, trying to push back the sour taste of guilt that clawed up her throat. “Yeah, well, Ivy doesn’t really want to go for those walks with me anymore.”

“Ya kiddin’? She misses it! Ya know how she loves kids, and how she loves you! She just thinks ya’re too grown up and too cool for that. She’s worried about ruinin’ yer street cred,” Harley said with a teasing smile. “But we’re gettin’ off topic again! Back to yar panic attack! What caused it?”

“Stress? I’ve been pushing back a lot of emotion lately. I didn’t want mom to think that the move made me anxious, or that the kids at Great Falls got to me. So I pushed everything back, but it just stored up until it burst. Just like always.”

“Something had to set ya off.”

“Well,” Trini frowned at the screen. She didn’t get anxious talking about her panic attacks or her anxiety, but that didn’t make the talking any easier. “Zack was getting bullied, but he didn’t react to it, so the guy grabbed me. He started proposing stuff, so I hit him in the chest and walked away.”

“Wait, ya just hit ‘im in the chest? No kick to the nuts? None of your Karate Kid tricks?”

“No.”

“Whadda’ya mean, no? Ya have martial arts training and ya didn’t kick his ass into the next week?”

“Of course I didn’t,” Trini scoffed, “I don’t need to be suspended or kicked out in the first two weeks of me going to this school.”

“Ah, right. That’s an offence… so, what happened then?”

“Then we left. And I started panicking.”

“Why?”

Trini lowered her head as she thought back to the events. Suddenly, it seemed so stupid to have thought that Diana would ever give her up. Now that her mind wasn’t drowning in a panicked haze, she knew that Diana loved her, that she wouldn’t just leave her.

“I thought…” she started, her throat dry, clenching almost painfully around her vocal cords until it felt like they scratched uncomfortably at the inside of her neck. “I thought they would expel me. I thought that mom would give me up for being problematic.”

Harley was quiet for a moment. Trini stared at the screen stubbornly, until she heard a controller being dropped and then two strong, lean arms were wrapped around her in a tight, secure embrace.

“Have ya told yeh mom about this?”

“No,” Trini shook her head, worming herself deeper into the hug. “She would chew me out for thinking that.”

“Is that was ya really think?”

Trini was quiet, biting her lip. “No,” she admitted. “She would tell me that she loves me and that just the thought that she would even leave me is completely stupid.”

“Uh-huh,” Harley nodded. “And if somethin’ really happened with that guy and ya’d get ina trouble at school?”

“She would tear the place down if she had to, only to prove it was not my fault. She’d fight for me. She’d never give me up. But why are you making me say all these things?”

“Because,” Harley dragged the word out, “I know it’s not easy ta remember all that when panicking. Yar brain focuses on fears an’ worries an’ it shuts off everythin’ you know, everythin’ that might bring ya some comfort is gone for those few moments. But—and not the one with double t, this is no time for jokes!—you knowin’ that yar mom loves ya when ya’re not panicking is what’s important. Yar mom loves you more than she loves anythin’ on this entire damned planet. She would never give you up. As long as ya know that when ya’re not panickin’, ya’re safe.”

Trini smiled. “Thanks. Can we go downstairs now? I miss Aunt Ivy and now that she’s actually here, I really wanna see her.”

“Ya think they’re done gossippin’?”

“I don’t know. Think I can convince them to have a Star Wars marathon even if they aren’t?”

“Little Tiger, ya could convince a crocodile to knock out all his teeth if ya wanted ta. I wouldn’t worry about some movie marathon.”

That was all it took for Trini to collect herself from her aunt’s embrace and race out of her room and down the stairs. She found Ivy sitting on the couch in the living room. She was tall, lean, back straight, legs crossed over the knee and folded somewhat strangely under her, with Mr Cat sleeping on her thighs. Her hair was like flame, red and tousled wild and all over the place, her face was stoic, made up of sharp angles that almost looked like they were meant for the face of a predator.

But when Ivy’s green eyes settled on Trini, the sharpness of her features gave way to a softness that the woman rarely showed, yet so much enjoyed. She took the steaming cup, most probably filled with coffee, in one hand, then outstretched the other one to give her niece a one-arm hug.

“Hey there, Dandelioness.”

“I missed you,” Trini said into the crook of her aunt’s neck.

“I missed you, too, love. Now, why don’t you tell me about all that you’ve been up to these past few months? We haven’t been able to catch up—”

“No, Bruce!” Ivy was cut off by Diana’s voice coming from the kitchen. One look in her direction revealed that she was pacing around the small section of the room, a phone in hand with the other hand running through her hair. Trini knew something was off as soon as she heard the name of the person on the other side of the call. Uncle Bruce only called when it was their birthdays and he couldn’t visit, some holidays or when something was up. He preferred visiting to phones. “I can’t—I can’t just leave! We moved in three weeks ago, that’s too soon! Yes, yes, I realise she’s seventeen and that she’s old enough, but… I know, Bruce! But it’s only been three weeks! Look, she… I don’t want to give her more reasons to be anxious. I—I know, Bruce. Yes…yes, I know. I will—no! Bruce! Don’t you dare! Bruce! Bruce, I swear to God!”

A heavy sigh came from the kitchen and soon, a tired-looking Diana came out, her head hung low and her black hair falling around her like a curtain.

Trini frowned at the image. “What’s wrong?”

“Something with the company. Bruce cannot close a deal until all the shareholders are present, he wants me to go with him.”

“Go where?”

“Tokyo. It’ll only be for about four days, but I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I can’t go with you? You said he needed all his shareholders.”

“You aren’t legal yet, I’m your guardian, I need to be present for both of us. And I don’t want to take you away from school now. You’ve just started.”

“Three weeks ago.”

“Still. You need to catch up, settle into a routine. If I took you away from school, you’d fall behind on your studies and it would disrupt the routine completely, which I don’t want to do. Leaving you here alone isn’t something I want to do, either, though.”

“Who said anything about her staying alone?” Ivy asked nonchalantly like she usually did, but Trini could hear the eagerness lacing her voice. “I still have some free days saved up, I can just call in, cash in on them, that’s not a problem.”

Harley jumped in, her eagerness much more obvious: “An’ some of my colleagues still owe me fer covering for them. We can stay those few days!”

“I don’t want you to have to change your schedule—”

“Aww, c’mon, Diana! We are the cool aunts, we’ve gotta live up to that title! Besides,” here Ivy smirked mischievously, “it’ll give us more time to spend with our favourite niece—”

“Your only niece!” Trini chirped in, but it only got a smirk from both of her aunts.

“—which will also mean more time to meet her friends and embarrass her.”

Diana grinned widely, giving her daughter a sideways glance. “Well, when you put it that way…”

“The only person they’ll meet is Zack and as far as embarrassing me goes, you’ve got me covered, mom,” Trini shrugged.

“That’s only partly true,” Diana smirked. “Well then, if you want me out of the house, I’ll go. But we still have some time before I need to start packing. Any ideas on how to spend that time?”

“Star Wars marathon?” Trini proposed.

“Again?” Ivy groaned, but there was a smile on her red lips.

Trini only gave her aunt an innocent smile, before they all settled in for a quiet night of watching movies, as was their habit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s all for now!
> 
> Now, I don’t want to make this long or anything, I know you aren’t here for this, I just thought I should clarify some things. 
> 
> I’ve seen somewhere in the comments (and yes, I know I don’t respond to them, but I do read them, and I love getting them! Like, when I’m out with my friends and I get an e-mail about a new comment being posted, I show the comment to the whole group like a proud momma. Well, there’s only three people other than me, but you get the point) somebody write that they are looking forward to seeing Pam and Ivy. I don’t know if that was an honest mistake or not, but I realised that the way the two are described in the story might be confusing for now. It will get cleared up later on (if it hasn't in this chapter), but I thought I’ll just put this here for you. 
> 
> Trini’s aunts are Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn (for those of you who didn’t get the memo). Poison Ivy’s civilian name is Pamela Lilian Isley, so that’s why I refer to her as Ivy in some places and as Pam in others. Harley Quinn’s real name is Harleen Frances Quinzel, but due to the names being so similar, there isn’t really space to call her a variety of names. 
> 
> Since in this AU there are no superheroes or supervillains, Harley and Ivy are just ordinary humans. I kept as much of their original comic-book stories as I could, but for the sake of this universe and this fanfiction, I had to change some things. For example, Harley wasn’t bathed in chemicals to bleach her skin white, she has a naturally pale complexion, but she did date the Joker. Another example is that Ivy loves plants and cannot have children, but she isn’t poisonous nor does she have chlorokinetic powers. 
> 
> If you want to ask or talk about anything regarding these two, either in this fanfic or in the comic-books, hit me up on tumblr! I know it’s empty (I’m hoping to change that soon), but I check it a few times a day, so depending on the time zones I should respond within a day!
> 
> Also, another thing I’d like to clarify is Lucy. There is a Lucy in this story already, Zack’s sister. But the Lucy mentioned in this chapter in the daughter of Harley Quinn and the Joker. In the comic Injustice: Gods Among Us, Year Two, it is reviled that Harley actually had a daughter named Lucy. She gave her up and Lucy went to Harley’s sister. I decided to keep that part of Harley’s story as well, and if I ever manage to make it that far into this fic, you’ll see why. 
> 
> Well, that’s all the issues I can think of. If you have any questions or comments, post them down below or hit me up on tumblr on justalittlewritingnerd! 
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	11. Riddles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> I know, it’s been too long. I’d like to say that life happened, and it did although not to that extent, but I have a different explanation. I am an episodic writer, that means I have writing episodes. Weeks or even months where the only thing I do is write. Right now? Well right now I have a gaming episode, so writing is not constantly on my mind. But hey, I managed to come through before the episode ended, so I guess that’s good. 
> 
> Anyway, we’re in for some Harley and Ivy / Trini bonding, so wahoo! And we’re in for a little bit of Kimberly, too. I know you folks want them to get together and bang already. This fic is a slow burn, though, and I started writing it with a point in mind. I still haven’t made that point clear enough, so we can’t just wrap it up. Not yet, anyway. 
> 
> So, enjoy!

It was early morning when Bruce Wayne stepped into the house of the Prince women. He hugged an already up and about Diana in a greeting, short and gentle, he gave a somewhat zombie version of Ivy with her morning tea in hands a respectful nod and a soft ‘good morning, Doctor Isley’, and then he stopped in front of a still sleepy Trini to take her into his arms and lift her off of the ground.

“Hey there, kiddo! I still remember when you were just a little bean that I could cuddle on my shoulder! Not that you’ve gotten much bigger since then,” he remarked with a chuckle and a playful smile, to which she slapped him on the shoulder, completely ignoring the halfhearted protest that came from her mom and the ‘watch the suit!’ that came from Bruce himself.

“Do you want some coffee, Bruce?” Diana asked after he let Trini go. “Or are we in too much of a hurry?”

“We are in a hurry,” the billionaire admitted somewhat sheepishly.

“All right, I’ll just get my things and we can go. Did you take Damian with you?”

“No. He stayed with Selina and Alfred. Why, are we taking Trini?”

“We are not,” Diana called as she climbed up the staircase. “She has school, I don’t want to put her under the stress of the travel. I was just curious. I hadn’t seen him in a few months, I miss him.”

“Indeed,” Bruce agreed. “Maybe we could arrange some sort of a gathering. I’m sure he’d like to see you, too. As would Selina.”

“One thing at a time, Bruce. We need to get Tokyo over with, first, then we can think up something else.”

Ivy chose that time to grumble: “Yell some more, I don’t think the neighbours have woken up yet.”

“Right, sorry,” Bruce gave another boyish, sheepish smile. He then turned to Trini, his smile turning into a sad one, his blue eyes full of regret. “I’m sorry I can’t stay longer this time, kiddo. But I’ll come see you soon, promise. And I’ll have a new toy for you that I’ve been working on for the past few weeks.”

“Really?” Trini grinned up at him, eyes as wide as her smile.

“Yep. You’ll see soon enough.”

“Besides, Damian’s birthday is coming up. It’s only a month away. I think we can come see you in Gotham,” Diana chimed in. She walked over to Bruce with her bag in hand. “Now, c’mon, the sooner we leave, the sooner I can come back to my daughter.”

“Of course. I’ll see you later, kiddo,” Bruce said. He hugged Trini, then he ruffled her already messy hair a bit before he took Diana’s bag. He walked over to the back door, and with another respectful nod and a ‘Doctor Isley’ in Ivy’s direction, he left.

Diana looked down at Trini. “Be good. Have your phone on you, I’ll call at least once a day—”

“She’s not a little kid anymore, Diana,” Ivy cut in. “It’s enough that you don’t want to leave her alone for a few days, you don’t have to check up on her all the time.”

“She is also my daughter and I worry for her,” Diana bit back. She then smiled back at Trini. “I’ll be back soon. Until then, take care of your aunts. I don’t want Harley to burn this place to the ground. I quite like it.”

“I’ll take care of it. Enjoy Tokyo. I want photos, lots of them.”

“Of course, love. And don’t stay up too late! And not too much gaming! And do your homework before dinner! And don’t eat too much junk food, your stomach will ache—”

“Mom, I’ve got this. Don’t worry.”

“I always worry for you, my little one.”

Trini smiled. “You don’t have to this time. I have both my aunts here.”

“That’s why I’m worried,” Diana chuckled. She then pulled Trini into a tight hug. “I love you, little one.”

“I love you, too, mom,” Trini whispered, squeezing the material of Diana’s blouse in her fists. She let go and pulled away. Her mom kissed the top of her head, then she gave Ivy a look before walking out of the door.

Trini’s throat clenched when the door closed. She swallowed thickly, unable to move. What if Diana didn’t come back? What if something happened, what if something went wrong, what if—

A hand gripped her shoulder firmly. Trini looked up to see Ivy there, with a look of calmness on her face. She looked a lot like Diana in a sense, tall, proud, beautiful, powerful, with a soft, caring glint in her eyes. And perhaps it was that resemblance that helped quenched Trini’s anxiety, at least a little.

“She’s gonna be fine, Dandelioness,” Ivy said, her voice soft, calm. It reminded Trini of the times when they would go out into the forests and Ivy would tell all sorts of stories about nature spirits, which always happened to, conveniently, be women. “Bruce Wayne is a good, caring man with enough money to ensure they will all be fine. They’ll be here before you know it.”

“I guess.”

“Hey,” Ivy said firmly, pulling at Trini’s shoulder until she turned around to face her aunt. “What do you say to pancakes and a stroll in the park?”

“Will there be stories of nature spirits?”

A look of surprise crossed Ivy’s face, but it quickly gave way to a gentle smile. “If you wish to listen to them.”

“And will they be rainbow pancakes?”

“I’ll try, but I don’t want to destroy your mom’s kitchen looking for the colouring.”

“I’ll find it!” Trini offered quickly, instantly moving to the kitchen to go through her mom’s neatly organised cupboards. She only managed to find red, blue and green colours, but Ivy managed to make the pancakes into a bisexual flag, with sprinkles of green in there, to which Harley—when she finally woke up to the smell of food—gave a cute little squeal and a peck to Ivy’s lips.

Before they could get to doing something meaningful, like watching movies or playing games, there was a knock on the back door and suddenly, Zack stood next to the kitchen counter, smirking and calling out a loud: “Morning, Ms P!”

Trini shot him a quick, warning stare, which he didn’t see—or completely ignored, Trini wasn’t sure of that one—before she looked over at her aunts. They both looked more than surprised, although Ivy did have a small trace of annoyance in her face. Like, Grand Canyon kind of small.

“Zack!” Trini growled before her aunts could maul him for breaking and entering. She sprung up from her seat and stood in front of him, which surely looked somewhat comically, considering their height difference.

Zack only then opened his eyes and looked around. His face paled when he saw the two women, and the distinct lack of Trini’s mom, before he grinned widely. “Good morning! The name’s Zack Taylor. I’m a friend,” he chose that moment to take Trini into a hug and ruffle her hair, “of this tiny, angsty bean here!”

Trini wrestled him off of her and glared at him. Ivy picked up on it.

“Indeed? She’s never mentioned you to me,” the redhead said in her best, intimidating persona. All the softness that Trini was used to seeing in her was gone. Instead, there sat a version of Ivy that Trini herself was kind of afraid of, with her back straight as an arrow, her face a cold, stoic mask, eyes emotionless, jaw set.

Harley glared at her girlfriend before she stood up and walked over to Zack, her hand outstretched toward him. “Hello, I’m Harleen Quinzel. You can call me Harley.”

Zack nodded, a smile plastered on his face, as he shook her hand. There was a short silence after Harley sat back onto her chair. The blonde glared at Ivy, who only responded after a sharp jerk from Harley and a quiet, surprised whine, which Trini interpreted as the redhead getting a kick to the shin.

Ivy stayed seated as she gave Zack a look full of mistrust and threat. “Doctor Pamela Lilian Isley. I don’t remember Trini’s mother telling me there was a person allowed to just barge into their home unannounced.”

“Yeah, about that,” Trini started, somewhat nervously, but was cut off by Zack.

“Where is Ms P, anyway? I wanted to ask her a favour.”

“She’s not here,” was Ivy’s curt answer.

“Ya, I can see that—”

“Zack! Shut up!” Trini hissed at the boy. “Ivy, please. He’s a friend, mom knows him. Let me deal with this.”

Ivy eyed them both, emotionlessly, yet somehow sternly at the same time. “The young man wanted to speak to your mother, I’m not sure you will be able to deal with this on your own.” Then her attention focused solely on Zack. “So, what can we help you with, Zack Taylor?”

“Is there really no way I can speak with Ms P?” Zack asked, his confident and aloof demeanour that Trini was so used to now all but a shadow of their previous interactions. He seemed sad, something she hadn't noticed before now, there were dark circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept in a while and his skin looked somewhat wax-like.

Ivy only quirked her eyebrow at him.

“W-well, the thing is..I,” the boy started, unsure, or perhaps ashamed, Trini thought as he watched his face turn floorwards. “M-my mom’s not home and I didn’t want to stay there alone?”

“You are not a child anymore—”

“Ivy!” Trini cut her aunt off with a growl, then she quickly turned to Zack, not even trying to hide her concern for him and his mom. “Is your mom okay?”

“She fell tonight. Lucy came to get her an hour ago and I…”

“Is she okay?”

“She might have something broken, I don’t know. There was blood, a little but still. She forgot to take her pills yesterday, I didn’t know, I was at work… I don’t wanna stay there, Trini. At least not tonight.”

There was a short silence before the scraping of a chair on the tiled floor took over the room.

“Dandelioness,” Ivy said, her voice stubbornly unaffected, “take care of your friend. I’ll be right back.”

They watched her leave the kitchen, Trini surprised, Harley with an affectionate smile, Zack with a confused frown. “Whipped,” the blonde whispered with a huge grin on her face. Trini didn’t have the time to question that, Harley turned to them and asked: “Zack, have ya eaten?”

He smiled shortly. “Not hungry. Thanks, though.”

“A’right. I’ll clean up here, ya go and do whateva it is ya do.”

Instead of going to her room, Trini led Zack to the sofa in the living room. She sat him down, sitting herself right next to him, which was unusual in itself, but it seemed to be the right move as he gave her an appreciative half-smile and a squeeze to her knee.

“Will she be okay?” Trini asked after a short moment of silence where Ivy’s voice could be heard mutely from upstairs.

“Lucy said so,” Zack shrugged. He folded his hands in his lap and started playing with his fingers like he didn’t know what to do with himself. “Mom is strong. And the new medication has been working, so… I think she’ll be fine. As fine as she can, considering.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. But can we not talk about it? I—I don’t want to think about it now.”

“Sure.”

Just as Trini was about to suggest some mindless game for them to play, Ivy walked back into the living room, her phone in hand. She looked at Trini, than Zack and nodded her head. “Diana said you can stay as long as you need. You will have to sleep on the couch, though, the guest bedroom is taken. And she wants an update from you later, Dandelioness.”

“Okay, I gotta know,” Zack voiced, a hint of a smile on his lips, as he looked between Trini and Ivy. “What is it with the nickname?”

“That’s Ivy’s thing. If she likes you, she’ll give you a plant-related nickname. She’s never really explained what it meant and I never asked,” Trini shrugged.

Ivy gave a soft chuckle, but that died down as soon as it appeared. “When your mom first showed you to us, your hair was bright yellow, short and all over the place. You looked like a dandelion. But I wasn’t going to call you a lion when you’re a lioness. Now it’s more a habit than anything.”

Zack cooed from his spot, gaining two very similar angry frowns from both Trini and Ivy.

“Okay, that’s a bit too much,” the boy dampened, “I can handle Crazy Girl staring me down like that, but the two of you ganging up on me? No, thanks.”

“What, you scared?” Trini teased.

“Of you? One hundred per cent yes.”

Trini grinned smugly and Ivy let out a snort of laughter at the proud look on his face. Harley chose that moment to walk over to them, wiping her hands into her pyjama pants.

“Hey, Zack-o-boy, ya wanna come ta the park with us later?”

“The park? Nah, that’s boring.”

“You got any better ideas?” Trini quirked an eyebrow at him. “And before you say anything, that plan has to take place outside. Someplace with threes.”

“I can work with that,” he shrugged. “There are some cool hiking trails in the forest near the abandoned mine.”

Trini could see the small change in Ivy’s face, a loosening of muscles that made her look somewhat more relaxed, at the mention of the forest. She could also see the way Harley’s eyes widened and sparkled ocean blue at the mention of the abandoned mine.

And so, a few hours later, sometime mid-afternoon, they were walking a trail of Zack’s choosing. He said it was a one that didn’t go dangerously deep into the forest, neither too close to the mine, which was restricted, much to Harley’s disappointment. On their hike, they talked about trees and fairies and nature spirits like they used to when Trini was a little kid. After that, the conversation shifted to school, in which Trini conveniently left out the strange behaviour of one pretty cheerleader—no, just a cheerleader, an ordinary cheerleader without any adjectives—and then to the joys of the aunts’ jobs. Ivy told them about her recent trip to central Africa where went to retrieve some strange, old plant, and Harley pouted the whole time, because ‘She left me alone for two whole weeks! That’s way too long!’. After that, Harley herself proceeded to tell them about her work, and what loonies, new and old, she had to deal with at Arkham Asylum.

“I really oughtta buy me a book of riddles or somethin’,” Harley lamented as they trailed down a somewhat steep hill. There was a sound of water running nearby and the ragged pine trees started to look somewhat scary dressed in their own long shadows. “Ed always gives me a riddle that I can’t get the right answer ta, even when I think he can’t pull another one on me!”

“What was the last one he gave you?” Trini asked. Ever since Edward Nygma came to Arkham, Harley’s been giving Trini his riddles, and the brunette rather enjoyed them. Some were easy, others gave her a bit of a headache, but she liked a challenge and the riddles proved to be stimulating.

“Eh, gimme a sec,” Harley muttered, pulling out her phone. She poked the screen a few times before she recited: “My first two letters spell my name. My last letter asks a question. What I touch I either redden or crush. What am I?”

“I don’t know,” Zack voiced, “a moron with too much time on his hands? Who even thinks about these things?”

“Shut it, Jon Snow! I quite happen to like the riddles!” Trini growled.

“Was that a compliment of my astonishingly good looks or my ability to convince stubborn girls of whatever I want in old caves?”

Ivy scoffed: “It was an observation of your lack of knowledge.”

“Huh, I always wondered where Tiny got all that burn.”

There was a short silence where both Harley and Ivy looked like proud mommas, and it made Trini smile internally. They would make good parents. Harley was reckless, but Ivy tended to be overprotective and careful, so they would balance each other out. Ivy…

“Ivy!” Trini exclaimed victoriously.

“Hmm?” her redhead aunt turned to look at her.

“No, the answer to the riddle! It’s ivy! My last letter asks a question, that’s Y. My first two letters spell my name, that’s I and V. What I touch I redden or crush, ivy plant is poisonous, people get rashes from it and if it grows around something, it destroys it. It’s ivy!”

The two women looked at each other while Zack just stared at her. “Damn, Crazy Girl. I knew you were smart, but that’s a whole new level.”

Trini’s attention, however, was taken by a concerned-sounding Harley. “Hey, Daffodoll, you okay?”

Ivy frowned, a pensive look on her face. “Is Edward dangerous?”

“Nah, I don’t think so. He’s never shown any signs. Why?”

“That riddle might have been an allusion. Maybe he knows more about you than anyone of us would like. You should speak to the warden. Or Dr Yung. Have them transfer Ed to some other doctor.”

“Aww, c’mon, Red, it’s nothin’! Nobody calls you Ivy but us, anyway, he’d have no way of knowing!”

“That’s what worries me...”

The conversation continued, in a lighter tone, but Trini didn’t listen. She’s heard some rustling noises not too far away, and then, a few moments after that, a somewhat distant splash, as if something fell into the water, but she couldn’t see anything through the trees, bushes and grass.

“Hey, guys? Can we take a five? I wanna check something.”

She didn’t wait for the response. Instead, she bowed a little and burrowed herself into the wall of branches, twigs and leaves and made her way through them. She could hear Ivy calling after her, but she ignored it. Something in her told her to just go, to follow those small, splashing sounds. It pulled her like she was a puppet and somebody was holding her strings.

She straightened her back when she made her way through the thin row of bushes and pushed herself to speed-walk around a few trees, stepping over stones and twigs, until she reached a patch of soft grass. And then, she stopped abruptly, because there was no ground in front of her. She stood on a cliff, overlooking a rather large pond, or a small lake, really. There was the sound of water trickling down the stone walls of the cliffs that held the lake in a firm embrace on one side, mixing together with the soft murmur of the trees in a light breeze.

SPLASH!

Trini jumped at the sound before she turned her eyes to the water. The surface was rippling with small waves like someone, or something, threw a stone down. Then there was a sigh and Trini looked up again.

There, on the cliff right opposite her, stood one half-naked Kimberly Hart, in only a pink bra—the one with the complicated, enticing strap-pattern—and black panties. Trini watched as the cheerleader proceeded to stretch her body, putting her caramel skin and taut muscles on display like she was a piece in an art gallery. Then, she lowered her hands and started pulling her bra over her head and off her body. Trini knew she should look away, she should go back to her aunts and leave this cursed place, and never think of a half—or completely—naked Kimberly Hart ever again. But she couldn’t. Her head wouldn’t turn, her legs wouldn’t move, even her breathing almost stopped. The only thing she could see, although definitely not comprehend, was the beauty of Kimberly Hart.

God, Trini was too gay for this.

Kimberly looked around, her eyes seemingly searching for something, and Trini was grateful for the bushes and tall grass that grew on her side of the lake. Kimberly looked satisfied with what she saw and, with a small smirk playing on her lips—which Trini was surprised she even could see with how far away she stood—she took off the last piece of fabric from her body.

Time stopped. Trini stared at the perfect skin, perfect muscles, perfect everything like she’s never seen anything like that. And she hasn’t, not really. Sure, there were a few pictures of naked, or half-naked women she’s seen floating about on Tumblr or something, but nothing quite like this.

And then, with all the calmness of an English gentleman and grace of a Frenchwoman, Kimberly back-flipped into the lake. Trini stood there, in her hiding spot between branches and bushes, rooted to the ground, even after the splash died down, unsure of what to do. A part of her wanted to run down there, to the beach that shone in the opening created by the cliffs, to make sure that Kimberly was fine. Another part argued that no girl would ever just strip naked and casually back-flip into a lake if she didn’t have any experience with swimming.

Trini was brought back from her lamenting when there was a rustle of branches on the cliff opposite her. There stood Kimberly again, in a white towel, her hair cascading down her shoulders and to her chest, glistening with water, and she was looking right at were Trini was hiding, a smirk firmly in place.

The brunette just stood there like a deer caught in headlights. Did Kimberly know? Could she see her?

The cheerleader proceeded to put on her clothes, her back to the lake, and Trini took that opportunity to bolt out of there as fast and as silently as she could.

Later that night, after she sent Zack to the living-room for the twentieth time and he actually listened, she sat on her bed, a small piece of paper with Kimberly’s number in one hand, her phone in the other. She could just text her—not because she still had the cheerleader’s naked body burnt in her memory!—it wasn’t that hard. She could prove she wasn’t a stuck-up, judgemental brat. She could! Diana would be proud if she did. Yeah, she would be proud. And maybe Kimberly wasn’t as bad as the other cheerleaders. She definitely was different, if the way she stopped Amanda from bullying people and the cliff-diving were anything to go by. What was the deal with that, anyway?

Trini sat there. And sat. And sat. What was she supposed to do? Was there even a right way to do this? Why should she help Kimberly? Why shouldn’t she?

No matter how she thought about it, it always brought her back to one thought—Kimberly Hart was interesting. She was nothing like Trini expected. She was a riddle that Trini just couldn’t figure out. And Trini was curious. She was hooked on it, her mind constantly working the idea of Kimberly around, trying to find the answer, trying to figure her out.

With a sigh that she wanted to sound defeated, Trini typed out a text and hit send.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s all for now. Hope you liked it! If you did, don’t be shy and let me know in the comments, or you can come to my tumblr on justalittlewritingnerd and we can talk.
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	12. Everybody's a freak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> Another chapter and it looks like I managed to get this one done on time! I'm not sure if I'll manage something like that in the near future, what with my degree thesis due date nearing, and with my state exams date hurling itself on me... but I hope it won't be too much of a wait!
> 
> Anyway! I particularly like this chapter because, well, there's Kimberly. But! I like it because of the interaction between Trini and Ivy, something that I just love to think about, almost as much as the interactions between Trini and Diana. 
> 
> Well, here goes! Enjoy!

Trini was sitting at the back table in the lunchroom the next day, together with Zack. He was just saying something about the cheerleaders that she only somewhat listened to. She was almost certain it was about Amanda, though. She let him drone on, more interested in her lunch than his words because he needed to take his mind off of the situation with his mom. And while Trini did feel guilty about not listening to him fully, it also offered her some time to think back to what she did the day before. Or, better, what she had done.

She had texted Kimberly Hart. And she never received a text back. And now her mind was plunged into self-doubt and insecurity, which only piqued her anxiety into uncomfortable levels. What if Kimberly wanted nothing to do with her anymore? Maybe she thought Trini was a judgemental witch—not all that far from the truth—after their conversation last Tuesday and decided it wasn’t worth her time. Or worse, she saw Trini at the lake yesterday and thought she was a creep. Well, that is if Kimberly actually meant her pleas for tutoring sincerely and didn’t give Trini some random person’s number as a prank. Kimberly didn’t look like the kind of person to do that, but one never knows. Maybe she was just like the other cheerleaders. And Zack did say that she was the meanest girl to ever meangirl, so maybe the cheerleaders just pranked her and were now somewhere in the bathroom, giggling and having a laugh at Trini’s expanse.

A loud call of ‘get out of here, freak!’ got Trini out of her head. She looked up, a cold feeling gripping her stomach, and sure enough, there was Billy standing opposite Colt Wallace in the middle of the lunchroom. Colt was slurring one insult after the other at a confused and shocked Billy, while the cheerleaders giggled and everyone else just stared.

Trini’s hands clenched into tight fists. She might not have known Billy for long, but he was the most precious human being—she had a theory he was made of mithril and unicorn hairs—and he didn’t deserve to be treated like that. She was about to stand up, her muscles taut and ready to push her off her seat, but Zack’s hand on her shoulder stopped her. When she looked at him for an explanation, he pointed towards the door. The football team just came in, with the sandy-haired boy from Trini’s EH class in the front. Colt still kept going, unlike the last time the situation occurred, though.

“That’s Jason Scott,” Zack explained quietly as they watched Jason Scott make his way to Billy and Goldilocks. “He’s the star quarterback, the wet dream of every girl—well, almost every girl—at the school. Legends have it that he has a thing for Kimberly Hart, but she’d picked Ty Fleming over him.”

Trini noted that the name seemed familiar before her mind took to an angry rant. It all always comes back to Kimberly, doesn’t it? God, Trini was so tired of it, and it’s only been half a day! How was she supposed to survive the whole year?

“Anyways, a year ago, Colt tried to bully Billy. Jason stepped in and sent Colt on his merry way,” Zack continued as if Trini wasn’t angrier than a pack of chihuahuas. “Ya see, Billy boy blue is Jason’s nerd. The rule is that the nerds are protected from bullying, and any other unpleasant interactions from other students, as long as they do the athletes’ homework and stuff.”

Wait, is that what Kimberly wanted from her? Just for Trini to do her homework? Did she want Trini to be her nerd? Well, if that was the case, Kimberly will have to look for another poor, unfortunate soul who needed protection, because Trini sure as hell was not going to do that. Oh, no, mister. She wasn’t going to be anyone’s nerd, screw the protection. She could handle bullies on her own. Ain’t nobody gonna take advantage of Trini’s smarts.

“Colt still likes to try and torment Billy here and there, but Jason usually steps in. It’s fun to watch.”

“Fun to watch? I’m not just watching this! I’m helping Billy!”

“Oh, c’mon, Tiny! Don’t spoil it! Look!”

Jason Scott just reached the two. He looked almost surprised at first, then he said something to Colt. Trini couldn’t hear what was being said, but it sure looked threatening, if the look on the blondie’s face was anything to go by. After a second of recovery, the bully said something back and went to punch Jason, to which the football player responded by giving him a fast, loud slap.

The next words Jason said were loud and clear for everyone to hear. “Stay away from him. And we’ll be okay.”

The blond bully waited around for a moment, then he walked away, faster than a person normally would. After the spectacle ended, everyone got back to their food and conversations, only Trini kept watching. Jason and Billy shared a long stare, then Jason said something, or asked, judging by the way he gestured to the table where some of Jason’s football buddies were already seated. Billy said something back, then another long stare followed before they went their separate ways.

Trini watched as Billy turned around, looked around and smiled brightly when he saw her. He made his way to her and Zack, gripping his tray and whiling widely.

“Hi, Trini! Oh!” Billy stopped a foot away from the table. “Hi. I’m William Cranston. Or Billy. People used to call me Cramston as in ton-of-crayons-in—”

“Hey, I know you! You go to the mines! And we’ve had some classes together last year! What was it, algebra?” Zack frowned for a second, then he grinned up at the tall boy. “I’m Zack. C’mon, sit!”

After Billy joined them, Zack had an audience to listen to his blabbering. And since Billy looked like he was enjoying the conversation, and he was holding his own with his input, Trini didn’t feel all that bad about not listening. Instead, she got back to thinking about Kimberly. Kimberly, her raven hair flowing as she flipped back into the lake. Naked. Very naked.

Trini felt a strange, but not at all unfamiliar stirring in her lower belly and between her legs. Oh boy, she did not have the time or the patience to deal with this! She was too gay for this! Maybe, if she got away from school, it would get better. But the only way aunt Ivy would come get her was if she called her, and Trini couldn’t do that unless she was alone. Then again, if she did call Ivy, she would think it’s another panic attack. Then Ivy would call Diana and Diana would make uncle Bruce turn around and return from Japan instantly. Trini couldn’t do that to her mom.

She just needed some way to avoid Kimberly until she forgot how the cheerleader looked naked, even from the distance. But how could she ever forget Kimberly?

Kimberly who was now making her way to their table, with her hair flowing down her shoulders, with only light make-up on her face, with an amazingly badass-looking jean vest over a dark-pink t-shirt, with daring confidence in every step and with a knowing smirk on her face. Oh damn. She was definitely there to tease Trini about yesterday. Or to call her a freak, or to settle the score for Trini seeing her.

“Uhh, Tiny?” Zack asked, torn out from his conversation by the nearing cheerleader. “Am I seeing things or is Kimberly Hart actually walking towards us?”

“Kimberly?” Billy perked up like a puppy, looking around. Kimberly was only a few feet away when he spotted her and started waving at her excitedly. “Hi, Kim!”

Trini watched, astonished, as Kimberly gave Billy a sweet smile and waved back with a ‘Hi, Billy’ on her lips. Then, when she finally came to their table, she leaned in and put her hands onto the desk, confidence oozing out of every line and curve of her body. “Hi, Trini.”

Trini was sure she wouldn’t be able to speak with how dry her mouth suddenly was even if her brain hadn’t short-circuited at that moment. Luckily for her, her sarcastic side came through. “So you did remember my name.”

The smirk on Kimberly’s lips widened, but her eyes darkened in something Trini couldn’t read. “Of course I did. It’s unique.”

“If you say ‘like you’ or something like that, I will leave.”

Kimberly’s smirk changed into a teasing one. “I wasn’t going to. This is our second real meeting after all. You are right, though. But I actually came here to say sorry.”

Trini’s jaw clenched and she hoped it didn’t show enough for Kimberly to notice. She didn’t want the cheerleader to see her disappointment, especially since that disappointment came from her rejection, or something worse.

“Sorry for what?” Trini forced herself to put on an indifferent face and quirked an eyebrow, just to hide her real expression. Sometimes she was really glad she has been forced to come up with her defence mechanisms.

Again, that irritating smirk found its way onto Kimberly’s pretty face. She looked at the two boys at the table briefly, before her eyes focused on Trini again. Trini found herself mesmerised by the depth and the colour of those eyes.

“Sorry for not answering your text yesterday. To be fair, I did find it today, at half-past three in the morning… anyways, I wanted to set up a time, date and place.”

Trini only quirked her eyebrow again. She knew Kimberly was talking about the tutoring which was, apparently, still happening. But the way Kimberly worded it, and the way her voice sounded, hugged by those pink lips and that tongue that sometimes poked from between Kimberly’s white teeth, it all somehow made it sound like there was something way more seductive and intimate going on. Then again, maybe it was just Trini’s own head messing with her because of the memories of yesterday’s evening.

Kimberly answered the eyebrow quirk with a smirk. “I have practice after school until four every day, but after that, I’m free whenever. It’s up to you.”

“I don’t mind whenever. So, where?”

“I’d say the library, but that’s too…quiet for what I had in mind,” Kimberly’s eyes sparkled strangely as she said those words, “so, my place or yours? My parents aren’t home, we’d have peace and quiet to do our things there.”

Okay, that was definitely weird. That sounded almost like Kimberly was flirting with Trini. That could only mean that the cheerleader was planning a trap or something at her house and Trini was not going there. Nuh-uh, no-way, no-how. She’d rather bring Kimberly home and face the uncontrollable wrath of her aunts’ teasing.

“I’ve got all the books at my place. I’ll text you the address. Just come over whenever, I’ll be home.”

Kimberly smiled this time, wide and toothy and sweet and beautiful, and maybe a little bit nervous, although there was something akin to disappointment in her eyes (Trini was sure she was only imagining things). “Cool. Today?”

“If you want,” Trini shrugged, putting a lot of effort into trying to look indifferent. Kimberly gave another smile, then she left with a ‘Bye’, a wave of her hand and a sway in her hips that had Trini’s eyes glued to her perfectly shaped behind.

There was a silence at the table. Both Trini and Zack were watching the cheerleader make her way over to the table of the Sisterhood, and Billy went back to his food.

“Hey, Billy,” Zack started after a while. “Say, how do you know Kimberly Hart?”

The boy shrugged as if the answer was obvious. Then he, without a glance up from his plate, offered offhandedly: “I tutor Jason and Jason is a friend of Kimberly’s. She studied with us a few times, but she stopped. She said she couldn’t stand Jason not having balls.” At that, Billy frowned in confusion. Then he looked up at Zack, his face suddenly adopting a deer in the headlights expression. “A-and let’s not forget that-that Trini knows Kimberly, too!”

“That’s true,” Zack dragged the words out. He turned to look at Trini with the most mischievous look she’s ever seen. “Well, Tiny, how do you know Kimberly?”

“Eh, she asked me for tutoring the other day.

“Right,” said Zack doubtfully. “And that’s why you have her number.”

“Yep. She gave it to me—”

“I bet she did,” the boy in black snickered, which earned him a jab to the ribs.

“She gave me her number to let her know when I’ll ‘get my head out of my ass’ and stop being judgemental.”

At that, Zack practically howled with laughter. “Oh my God! She called your ass out like that and you still texted her first? Well, Crazy Girl, just make sure I’m your best man. And the godfather of your kids!”

“The hell are you talking about?”

“She called you out on your bullshit and she still got you to eat out of her palm. And she flirted with you the whole time she was here! There’s something there, Tiny. I say it’s a month tops for her to ask you out.”

Trini frowned at him. “Zack. She’s a cheerleader, there’s no way she’d go for a nobody girl like me. ‘Sides, you said she has a boyfriend!”

“Well, she is with Ty Flemming. But he cheats on her left, right and centre, it’s only a matter of time before they break up—if they hadn’t already—so I wouldn’t worry about that. Besides, I’ve told you that sexuality isn’t a big thing here! At least two chicks on the cheer squad are rumoured to have college girlfriends, and a guy on the football team is dating a baseball player. Kimberly being a cheerleader doesn’t matter! Well, besides the added flexibility.” He said the last part wiggling his eyebrows suggestively until he got an elbow to the ribs.

Trini tried to focus extra hard on all her classes, only to keep herself from thinking about his words, and Kimberly Hart.

 

*****

 

When school finally ended, Ivy was already waiting for Trini in the Mustang, on the parking lot, only a few feet away from Diana’s usual place. A thought of how similar her aunt is to her mom crossed Trini’s mind, and brought a soft smile onto her face, something she needed after a strange, and very tiring, day.

When Trini got into the car, she was met with a warm hug. “Where’s Zack? I thought we were driving him, too.”

“He has work. Said he’d come over later, though,” Trini shrugged, then she frowned at her aunt. “How did you convince mom to let you drive the Mustang? She doesn’t even let me drive it!”

Ivy smirked as she turned on the engine. “You don’t have your licence yet. And it’s not like you could reach the pedals and see the road at the same time, anyway.”

“Short jokes? Really?”

“They never grow old.” Ivy took great care to put emphasis on ‘grow’.

Trini made a show of rolling her eyes so that Ivy would see it. “Can you not?”

“Well, I still have three months worth of teasing to catch up on.”

“Just not today.”

Ivy eyed her when they stopped at a red light. “Why not today? Something went wrong at school?”

“No, not really. School was okay,” Trini let out in almost a mutter. She wasn’t sure what to make of that mess in her head. Kimberly Hart would be coming over to her house later. And she didn’t even clean up her room! Granted, she didn’t know Kimberly would be coming over, she thought they’d choose some neutral ground, like the library, or some cafe, or anywhere else that was neither of their homes. But alas, the decision’s been made, and now Trini had to deal with the idea that someone she didn’t know, an almost complete stranger, would come over to her house, her safe place, and see her personal things. Some stranger would experience the place where Trini felt her safest, and just the thought made her skin crawl.

But, Trini thought, it’s not just some stranger. It’s Kimberly Hart! The head cheerleader, head witch in charge, mean girl. That was worse than some stranger!

Still, a part of Trini refused to be concerned. It was Kimberly Hart. The girl has seen one of Trini’s lowest points and approached her after. Besides, the thought of Kimberly seeing Trini’s safe heaven wasn’t as terrifying as some random stranger seeing it. Kimberly did help her through a panic attack. She held Trini though it, refused to let go. Whispered words of comfort, and then those that didn’t have anything to do with comfort. Granted, it was because Diana was telling her what to do, but still. Kimberly handled herself, and she handled Trini. So maybe, maybe it wasn’t all that terrible.

Trini emerged from her thoughts when the car stopped. She was ready to get out and go straight into her room to clean it up a bit because there was no way in hell she’d try to tutor Kimberly in the living room with both of her aunts there to embarrass and tease her. But there was a catch. They weren’t home.

“I need to buy some stuff for dinner. Do you wanna come with or are you staying in the car?”

Trini was conflicted. She wanted to stay in, to have a while for herself. At the same time, she wanted to tell somebody at least a small portion of what she was thinking. And Ivy has always been a good listener with a lot of advice. Not as much as Trini’s mom, but still, Ivy was the next best thing.

She wondered if Kimberly was a good listener. For the sake of tutoring, of course.

Getting out of the car, Trini pondered her options. She wanted to tell Ivy about Kimberly, but she didn’t know how to. About the tutoring she set up with Kimberly, Trini corrected herself quickly. There was nothing else about the cheerleader to tell.

“Dandelioness, what’s wrong?”

Trini waited until they crossed the parking lot and got into the store, thinking and debating with herself how to tackle this conversation. “Nothing is wrong,” she said finally, “just…”

“Just?” Ivy prompted gently.

“A cheerleader asked me to tutor her in history and she’ll probably be coming over later today. So no embarrassing anything, okay?”

“No embarrassing anything? It sounds like it’s just some girl that you’ll tutor, nothing important. Unless…”

Even though all of Trini’s instincts told her not to do it—she could pretty much hear Admiral Akbar say ‘It’s a trap!’ in her mind—she decided to ask: “Unless?”

“You care for this girl.”

Trini scoffed. “Pshff… as if. I don’t even know her, how could I care for her?”

Ivy smirked. “Then you like her.”

“She’s a cheerleader.”

“Alright,” the redhead chuckled, “and?”

“What do you mean, ‘and’? She’s a cheerleader, they don’t date nobodies!”

The smirk that took over Ivy’s face was one of the biggest smirks Trini’s ever seen the woman wear—which was saying a lot, Ivy was the queen of smirking. “Date? I thought you didn’t care about her.”

“I don’t—you’re terrible.”

“Me? You’re the one who wants to date a cheerleader.”

“I don’t want to date her!”

“Mhmm,” Ivy hummed with teasing in her voice and mischief in her eyes as she, seemingly very calmly, picked through vegetables.

“How could I? All I really know about her is her name and that she’s a cheerleader! Still, don’t understand why she asked me to tutor her…”

“Well, she clearly holds you in high regards. She trusts in your knowledge and your abilities.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Why else would she ask you?”

“’Coz she’s a cheerleader and she wants to prank me because I’m the new girl? To make fun of me? To be able to tell everyone how much of a freak I am?”

“Dandelioness, you’re not a freak. You’re a person, and people come in a huge variety of shapes, forms and characters. You aren’t doing anything wrong, you aren’t hurting anyone, you’re not suppressing anyone, you’re not racist or sexist, or a control freak, or a violent person, or feminazi, or any other of those terrible things. You’re not a freak. There’s not a thing wrong about you.”

“I’m judgemental. And lazy. And sassy. And annoying.”

Ivy chuckled lowly, but she didn’t respond right away. They made their way through two more aisles, taking whatever Ivy deemed necessary. Then they got to the check-out, and Ivy busied herself with paying and putting everything into bags—with Trini’s help, of course—so Trini considered the debate over and done with.

Only when they were both sitting in the car, with the groceries at Trini’s feet, did Ivy speak up again. “Trini. You don’t have bad qualities that cannot be worked on. You’re not a bad person. And as for the freak? Everybody’s a freak for someone. I’m a freak for some people because I love plants. Your mother is a freak for some people because she loves history. Harley is a freak for someone ‘coz she’s a therapist and prods in people’s minds. Everyone’s a freak. You can either change the reason why someone calls you a freak, or you can let your freak flag fly and own up to the person you are and to the person you want to be.”

Trini let the words sink in for a short moment, then she chuckled. “And here I thought only my mom was this wise life-guru.”

“Where do you think she got it?”

The ride home went by in silence. That is, until they got onto their street and Trini’s mind went back to Kimberly. More specifically, their tutoring session.

“Uhm, Aunt Ivy?”

“Yes, love?”

“How do I tutor someone?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed today's chapter! If you did, don't forget to leave kudos and comments! I know I don't respond to them, but I read every single one of them and I love getting them. If you're interested, come talk to me on my [Tumblr](https://justalittlewritingnerd.tumblr.com)! 
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	13. There is only one Egypt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> Another update! Yay! Not sure how I'll manage the updates until at least mid-June, however. School is going to get tough.
> 
> But! It's here! Finally! We're at that point! Oh, geez, I'm so proud of myself. It is finally time for Kim and Trini's first... tutoring session. Wahoo! Also, there's a little bit of Kim vs The Aunts™, so that should be fun. 
> 
> Now, without further ado, enjoy!

It was 5:13 pm when Trini got the text. _‘I’ll be over at yours in two minutes.’_

Two minutes. Two minutes! Trini only had two minutes! That was way too little for her to freak out and get her act together! She hasn’t even had the time to get her books ready, let alone review anything, how was she supposed to tutor? Was her room clean enough? She didn’t forget to put away the clothes from the chair—that name should be trademarked, everybody has that chair in their room—did she? Did she put away all her DVDs? She picked up all those books from the floor, right? She put everything away, made sure her room was squeaky clean. There was nothing to worry about. Well, besides the fact that Kimberly will see Trini’s room, her safe heaven, the one place that contained all those little things and trinkets that she held dear. But she couldn’t just stay in the living room with Kimberly, her aunts would eat them alive.

Oh, fudge-nuggets! Her aunts.

Trini’s throat clenched and her belly made a nervous flip. She completely forgot about her aunts! Gosh, they’ll have a field day teasing her! She didn’t intend for Kimberly to spend much time with them, sure, she wouldn’t even introduce them if there was a way to avoid it. But Ivy knew there was someone coming over, and Ivy was one hell of a protective person with one of the strongest personalities Trini’s ever seen. She’d make sure she was there for Kimberly’s arrival, not to tease, but to access the situation, see if the cheerleader was some sort of a threat to Trini. And if Ivy was there, Harley would be with her, the two are inseparable. That posed a problem because while Ivy was not much for outright teasing with a new person in the room—she was the silent and broody type that preferred to scare people half to death—Harley was teasing incarnate. She would take any and every chance to prank, joke and tease.

If only Trini could figure out a way to get Kimberly into her room without her aunts seeing them—okay, that sounded too much like it was implying something, which it wasn’t!

Well, the only thing she could do now was to plead with them to at least try to act normal. Not that it would do much good.

As quickly as she could, Trini ran out of her room and down the stairs, taking two at the time. She found her aunts in the living room, sitting on the sofa—from where they had a good enough view at the front door, of course. Harley was watching TV, some cartoon by the sounds of it, while Ivy looked through some papers. Both of them looked up at their niece when she stopped in the hall, Harley surprised, Ivy amused.

“What’s goin’ on, Little Tiger, where’s da fire?”

“Look,” Trini ignored the blonde in favour of using the small time frame she had to her advantage, “a girl I’m supposed to tutor is coming over, she’ll be here in, like, a minute. I need you two to behave.”

“Darling, we always behave.”

“Right. This time, please, don’t say anything embarrassing, or rude, or probing. Okay? Please?”

“As long as you don’t take away us being threatening…”

“Aunt—!”

The bell rang. Trini’s mouth dried in a millisecond. Her heart started fluttering wildly up in her clenched throat. She couldn’t do this. She shouldn’t have agreed, she couldn’t possibly tutor anyone! Her room was hers alone, no probing cheerleader should ever step a foot inside! And—and she didn’t know how to be social! Especially about those girly things cheerleaders enjoyed so much. How was she going to tutor Kimberly if she couldn’t even speak to her?

“You should go get the door, Dandelioness.”

Growling under her breath at the small, but that much cheekier smirk on Ivy’s face, Trini went to open the door. There stood Kimberly, her hair flowing irritatingly perfectly down her shoulders, clad in that perfect, leather vest, with a smile bordering on a smirk firmly on those perfect, pink lips. It took Trini a moment to get her wits about her and when she did, she realised Kimberly was actually talking. And Trini had no idea what she was talking about. Great start, Prince.

“Hey! Hi… I mean—err—what? Err, excuse me?” Trini’s cheeks and ears burned. Seriously?

Kimberly let out a soft giggle, but the smirk on her face only widened. “Hi. I was just asking if I could park my car in your driveway? I mean, this is a pretty quiet neighbourhood, but, y’know, better sorry than safe, right?”

“Don’t you mean better safe than sorry?”

“Hmm,” Kim seemed to ponder it for a second, “I guess everyone goes for what they like. So, about that car?”

“Uh, sure, park it, no problem.”

“Thanks. I’ll be just a moment.”

With that, Kimberly turned around and went over to her car. Trini watched as the cheerleader expertly parked her car, wishing that she herself already had her licence. Of course her mom wouldn’t let her drive the Mustang, that car was too strong and too expensive for Trini’s experience-hunting. But maybe Diana would get her something less expensive that Trini wouldn’t feel too bad if she crashed.

She was brought out of her thought by Kimberly, who was, once again, standing in front of her, with that damned smirk plastered on her face. “Are we holding today’s session here? I mean, it’s not that cold, but you don’t have anything with you.”

“Err,” Trini cleared her throat, just to buy herself some time. When the words actually registered, she felt her throat clench and her blood rush to her cheeks with a wave of warmth. Quickly thanking for her darker skin, Trini turned and opened the door wide for Kimberly to enter. “Come in.”

“Ah, so we won’t be studying on your front porch?”

“No. We’ll go to my room.”

The smirk on Kimberly’s face turned teasing. “Well, this might be more interesting than I thought.”

When they walked inside, Trini almost wished they stayed on the front porch. Because from their spot on the couch, both of her aunts were looking at them, Harley excitedly, with a friendly smile, Ivy witch a stony expression. Kimberly stopped in her tracks, she even threw a surprised look in Trini’s direction, but she recovered, rather quickly so, and plastered a polite smile onto her face.

“Good afternoon,” Kimberly greeted, her voice pleasant, but strong in a way Trini couldn’t comprehend. “I’m Kimberly Hart. Trini is tutoring me.”

Harley was the first to react. She came over to them, smiled and offered her hand to Kimberly. “Hi! Harleen Quinzel. Just call me Harley, everyone does.”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Kimberly shook Harley’s hand.

When Harley let go and stepped aside, she revealed a stern-looking Ivy. Trini gulped. Even through all her pranking and teasing, Harley was fine. She was friendly, although she could probably read at least half of someone’s personality from a simple handshake. Sure, she was a wild cart, sometimes, but she was nice to others and she always had good intentions.

Ivy? Not so much. Not even Trini knew what to expect from her, especially if Ivy met someone stubborn and naturally dominant who would, even subconsciously, challenge her. Someone like Kimberly.

Ivy levelled the cheerleader with an unreadable stare, then, with a firmly set jaw and chin held up high, she offered Kimberly her hand for a shake. “Doctor Pamela Lilian Isley.”

“Doctor? Of what?” Kimberly asked, not teasing, not doubtful, just sort of curious like she thought showing interest would get her on Ivy’s good side.

“Botany,” Ivy answered simply, coldly. “You have a firm handshake.”

“You too. What exactly about botany?”

“I specialise in healing effects of plants. Poisonous plants specifically.” Ivy’s eyes hardened. “I have unlimited access to poisons which are still unknown to all humankind. And which nobody would be able to identify in at least the next ten years were they found outside of my laboratory.”

To her credit, Kimberly didn’t look away for even a second at the implication. “Understood.”

“Good.”

“Yeah, well,” Trini decided it was time to step in, “we have some work to do, so, uh, we’ll be in my room.” She started dragging Kimberly up the stairs, but not before giving Ivy an ugly look.

“Open door policy,” Ivy reminded calmly.

“Oh c’mon! It’s just tutoring!”

“Your mother’s house, your mother’s rules! Nothing I can do, Dandelioness.”

“She never told me about that!”

“She never needed to!” Ivy fired back. Trini was about to say something back but she decided against it when she saw the amused look in Kimberly’s eyes. Instead, she glared at her redheaded aunt, just to make herself feel a bit better, then she went up to her room with the cheerleader in tow.

When she opened the door, her throat clenched and her stomach squeezed almost painfully under the wave of anxiety that washed over her. There was nothing out of place, not a trace of dust, no clothes on the floor or the chair, nothing to be embarrassed about. The room was clean. Perhaps too clean. What if Kimberly thinks Trini is no better than a teenage boy who only cleaned up because a girl was coming over? Gosh, what if Kimberly makes fun of her for her room? Or her aunts? Or anything? Could any of that make a potential prank worse? Probably.

“Err, those were your…?” Kimberly asked from behind Trini. The reminder that there was actually someone else besides her prompted Trini to move inside the room.

“My aunts,” Trini forced herself to answer.

“Ah. They seem… intense. Especially the doctor.”

“Yeah, Ivy is… well, she’s Ivy.”

Kimberly gave her a confused look. “Ivy?”

“That’s what we call ‘the doctor’. That, or aunt Pam,” Trini shrugged in explanation. She watched Kimberly nod in understanding, her mouth slightly open, tips of white teeth poking from between the pink lips. The cheerleader then looked around, eyes curious, interested. The corners of her lips jumped into a small smile when she looked at the maps painted on one of the walls. That smile turned into a smirk when she saw the handle of the lightsaber Trini’s got from uncle Bruce when The Force Awakens came out, then into a soft giggle when she saw Trini’s stuffed sabre-tooth tiger—the only stuffed animal she had—and then into a look of awe when she looked at the shelves full of books.

“You have a lot of books. Did you read them all?”

Trini quirked her eyebrow in faux confidence. “Yep.”

Kimberly let out an impressed whistle. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many books in one place that wasn’t a bookstore or a library. How did you have time for all that?”

“I wasn’t a cheerleader since junior high.”

“Right.”

Trini decided not to comment on the strangely curt tome of Kimberly’s voice.

“Anyways,” the cheerleader started again, turning around with a smile on her face, “where’s your mom?”

“Tokyo.”

“Why?”

Trini looked the girl up and down quizzically. Why would Kimberly ask about Trini’s mom? And how could Trini answer that without mentioning that she called Bruce Wayne her uncle? ‘Coz she definitely didn’t want to tell that to Kimberly. She didn’t have that level of confidence yet.

Wait, yet?

“’Coz she likes the gardens.” Thank God for sarcasm.

“You do know that using sarcasm in a defence mechanism, right?” Or maybe not.

“Also an intelligence statement.”

“And a statement about the emotional range.”

Trini shrugged trying to look unaffected. “I thought we were here for history, not psychology.”

Kimberly’s smile turned into a curious smirk. “What can I say, I’m fascinated by the human psyche.”

“Maybe I should get you tutoring sessions with Harley, then. She’s a psychiatrist. She can fascinate you way more than I can with history.”

Kimberly’s smirk turned playful. “I highly doubt that. You seem… very fascinating.”

Trini cleared her throat at that, unsure of what to do. “Let’s just get that history thing over with.”

“Want to get rid of me so quickly?”

Instead of answering, Trini walked over to one of the bookshelves and started searching through the books there. “You said it was World history, right? So, you’re now on what? Assyrian Empire?”

“Egypt, actually,” Kimberly answered and Trini silently thanked all the gods she knew for making her stop the teasing already.

“Alright, which Egypt?”

There was a second worth of pause, before Kimberly answered, her tone confused: “There is only one Egypt. The one in Africa?”

Trini bit back a sigh. This was going to be more difficult than she anticipated.

“Do you even go to those lessons or are you flanking them?”

“I do. Attend, I mean. But I told you, history is not exactly my forte. It’s boring. And there’s so many dates and names!”

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Trini muttered to herself. “Alright. We’ll start with the basics. I’ll try to explain it to you, if you don’t understand something, just ask. Okay? Fine. The history of Ancient Egypt is divided into four realms and various periods, in which different dynasties of rulers, well, ruled.”

“Why?”

“Because,” Trini explained as she tried to locate the book she’d need for this session, “it lasted for about 3130 years if I’m not mistaken. That’s a pretty big chunk of history, even for the ancient times. The historians would go crazy if it was all just Egypt.”

Trini stopped her explanation when she located the book. The History of Egypt was sitting comfortably up on the top shelf, staring down at her and laughing. Of course. Of course it would be where she couldn’t reach it! She sighed, then she went to get the chair while she continued her explanation. “3100 years is a lot of years in which a lot of things happened and a lot of things changed, even if we don’t have them all documented. You could say that’s a good thing. There are a few divisions of Ancient Egypt, the one I’m going with is four realms, the Ancient Realm, the Middle Realm, the New Realm and the Late Realm. In between each, there were a few hundred years worth of unclassified history, mostly because those were the times when Egypt was at its lowest, overrun or just with stupid leadership.”

“You need a hand with that?” Kimberly asked, pointing to the chair.

“Thanks, I got it.”

“Yeah, I don’t want my tutor to fall and break herself because she couldn’t reach a book.”

“Are you saying I’m short?” Trini squinted her eyes at the cheerleader.

Kimberly’s face conjured a somewhat sheepish smile. “Well, you are kind of short. How short are you, five feet?”

Trini scowled instead of answering, then she pointed to the book she was trying to get. “You can get that yourself. And then you can take out your notes from the class. I wanna see what I’m working with.”

Kimberly got on her tip-toes and stretched her body to reach the book, and Trini’s brain stopped working for a second. She was just left there staring at the lean lines and soft curves and muscles that bulged under caramel skin.

The cheerleader turned to Trini, the book in hand and a sheepish expression on her face. “I don’t actually have notes.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah, I didn’t think I’d need them. Besides, Mr Stick-up-his-ass wouldn’t know how to lead a lecture if he watched a YouTube tutorial while teaching.”

“Who?”

“Mr Sutherland? He teaches you, too.”

“Ah,” Trini nodded in understanding. “Yep, sounds like him. Okay. Today we’re going to go through as much as we can. I guess we’ll stop somewhere before the Late realm, though. You take notes. They’ll help on your exams.”

“Uh, sure.”

About an hour into their session, which turned into Trini trying to find creative and not boring ways of explaining whatever Kimberly asked about from the book, there was a knock on the door and a blond head poked in.

“Hey, girls, Ivy was wonderin’ if she should make dinner fer four.”

Kimberly looked unsure for a moment, and Trini didn’t know whether it was because she was uncomfortable with the idea of dining with them or if it was because of the first impression Ivy left in the girl.

When Trini didn’t answer, Kimberly smiled politely. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Nonsense,” Harley waved her off. “We’re inviting you! And Pammie will behave, I’ll make sure of it. Ya one of us or do ya only eat rabbit food?”

Kimberly let out a short laugh. “I’m a carnivore.”

“Quick thinking, I like her! Lasagna okay with you?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“No problem. It’ll be ready in about an hour,” Harley smiled. Then she gave Trini a pointed stare with a very badly hidden smirk before leaving.

Kimberly shifted around on her spot on the bed. “I hope you don’t mind. I don’t want to impose on your family time…”

“Hey, no, ‘s okay. They invited you. Well, we did. Besides, if you didn’t stay, they’d dissect me. This way, they’ll focus on you and leave me alone,” Trini offered with what she hoped was a friendly smile. But not too friendly. She still didn’t trust Kimberly and she didn’t want to tarnish her reputation.

The cheerleader returned the smile, although hers was somewhat sad. And her eyes were darker than they were before.

Trini frowned. There was something deeper in there, she was sure. But it wasn’t her place to probe and prod in Kimberly’s life. So instead, she went back to talking about Egypt.

A little over an hour worth of more explaining, and trying to get Kimberly to focus on the topic at hand instead of every personal thing Trini had in her room on Trini’s part, a loud whistle sounded through the house. Trini closed the book, which had been lying unused on her bad for the past twenty minutes, and got up.

“C’mon.”

“Huh?”

“It’s dinner time.”

“How do you know?” Kimberly quirked an eyebrow.

Trini shrugged. “Harley called.”

“You mean the whistling? What are you, a dog?”

Trini’s jaw clenched and she looked away. For a moment, she humoured the idea of telling Kimberly when and how the whistling started, but she decided against it. She still wasn’t sure if the cheerleader was actually here for tutoring. It still might be just a bad joke. And she was not going to wager personal information on the good heart of a cheerleader. She was smarter than that.

Instead of answering, Trini turned around and walked out of her room. She heard the rustling of clothes on bedsheets and quick steps, and before she could even make it to the stairs, Kimberly was behind her.

“Trini? Hey, I’m—I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be rude or anything.”

When Trini looked at her, Kimberly had a sincere look on her face and gentleness in her eyes that caught the brunette off-guard.

Trini cleared her throat. “When I was little, I got an ear infection. For about a year after that, I couldn’t hear well, even when someone yelled from the next room. But I picked high-pitched sounds really well. So whenever mom or aunts needed my attention when I was in another room or playing outside, they’d whistle, which was a sound I could hear perfectly. Thanks to medicine and Ivy’s research, I was able to get my full hearing back, but the whistling kind of stuck.”

When she finished, Kimberly was looking at her with a softness in her eyes that Trini wasn’t expecting. She then smiled, bright and toothy and honest, if she sparkles in her eyes were anything to go by. “C’mon! I wanna see if your doctor aunt wants to kill me or not!”

“Technically, they are both doctors.”

“Well, at least if Dr.Isley tries to kill me, Harley will be able to help me.”

Trini just shook her head and walked down the stairs with a smile on her face. She chose not to reveal the fact that Harley would probably not interfere with anything Ivy really wanted to do. She also chose not to tell Kimberly that Ivy wouldn’t kill anyone, no matter how much she wanted to if Harley’s ex was anything to go by.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's all for today! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you did, let me know in the comments!
> 
> And a quick explanation at the end: I don't really know how schools and curriculums function in America. I'm from Central Europe, and I don't know jazz about how teaching and learning history in the US, or the world really, works. So, if I ever write Trini explaining something, like Ancient Egypt in this chapter, it might be somewhat different from what people from different countries know. However, it's not incorrect. It's just the way I learnt it at the university. (And yes, I am one of those fools who study history at a university. That's how I know my information isn't incorrect.)
> 
> If you have any questions regarding the story, or history, come find me on my [tumblr](https://justalittlewritingnerd.tumblr.com/).
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	14. I'm not doing this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there!
> 
> I know I haven’t posted in a while. But, I figured, since it is one of the biggest holidays in geek and nerd culture, I thought I’d get to it and do something nice. So, here it is! Another chapter! Yay! It's not proofread, though, so there are going to be mistakes and errors, which I am very sorry for.
> 
> I’m not sure when I’ll post next. I just learned the dates of my state exams and they start on 28 May, so I’m going to be studying for those the next few weeks. That probably won’t leave enough time for writing. But after that, I’m going to get back into this damn business! Not today, though, today I’ll probably binge all the SW movies while playing SWTOR… good plan.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy! And May the Fourth be with you!

Sitting in her Lit class was interesting. Mr Peters, while still maintaining the aura of someone who doesn’t really care, was great at explaining things as well as debating his students’ opinions. Trini enjoyed his classes. That, and her respect for the teacher was why when Zack threw her a note during English Literature class, she didn’t even look down to open it. He threw her two more and she had to turn around in her chair and glare daggers at him for him to stop.

He still threw three more.

To his credit, Mr Peters didn’t say a thing about it. He just continued his lecture on Pilgrim literature like a champ, only stopping to give Trini an appreciative look.

Only when they left the room after the end of the class did Trini address the issue of Zack’s annoying antics.

“What the Hades, Zack!”

“Hey, calm down, Crazy Girl!”

“Never tell a nervous, angry or annoyed woman to calm down!”

“Chill out?”

“Even worse!” Trini growled, leading them down the hallway and towards her locker. “What was so important that it couldn’t have waited until after the class?”

“Why, you actually pay attention in those?”

“Of course I do! And you should, too! It helps raise your general intelligence!”

“The general what now?”

Trini rolled her eyes. “Why am I even trying?”

“Anyways,” Zack grinned, “how did the ‘tutoring’ go?”

“Did you just make quotation marks with your fingers?” Trini glared at him.

Zack fake-coughed. “That’s irrelevant to the topic at hand. So, how was your date?”

“It was not a date,” Trini growled.

“Uh-huh.”

“Zack. It’s wasn’t.”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re convincing me of it when I already agreed with you.”

She glared at him but didn’t dignify it with a response. Instead, she just turned away from him and walked those few steps that divided them from her locker. Zack was quiet for a moment, but when they stopped, he gave her a wicked grin.

“So? How did it go?”

“If you were at our place, you’d know. Where were you, anyway?”

“Home,” he shrugged. “Lucy came to pick up a few things for mom. After that, I went to work.”

“Evening shift at a music store? Harsh,” Trini remarked, not holding back on the sarcasm.

“Yeah, it was hell. But I got an offer for a stable job there. You’re talking to the newest official employee of Loco Records!”

Trini stared at him, trying very hard not to let her grin get as wide as it wanted to. “When did you want to tell me that? That’s amazing!”

“Yeah,” Zack scratched at the back of his head, “I’ll work the weekends and Lucy agreed to come over to watch mom on the rare occasions I’ll work weekdays. When mom gets back from the hospital, that is. I kind of think Lucy had something to do with the contract.”

“Right. A dentist from San Francisco magically got you a job at a music store. That sounds believable.”

“Hey, you never know! But don’t think you’ll side-track me, you still need to tell me about that not-date!”

“Need to?” Trini quirked an eyebrow.

“Yes, now spill.”

Trini let out an exasperated sigh. “We spoke about ancient Egypt. Well, I spoke, she took notes.”

“Uh-huh. What else?”

“There wasn’t anything else.”

“Right. That’s why you have that—” he poked her cheek, “—expression on your face!”

“What expression?” Trini demanded. She decided to forgo the threat that she would cut off his fingers if he poked her like that again. Years of experience told her things like that had no effect on him whatsoever.

“That ‘I wanna tell ya, but I don’t wanna tell ya, but I do wanna tell ya’ expression. It looks adorable with your puffy little cheeks! Now spill!”

“One more remark about anything about me being adorable and I’ll be spilling your blood on the floor,” she growled. When he only continued to grin at her, unaffected by her words, she sighed and buried herself into her locker. While as an explanation his words sucked, he wasn’t wrong. She did want to tell someone about Kimberly. It was a feeling she wasn’t used to and this didn’t know how to deal with. Her first instinct had been to call her mom last night, but she had decided against it.

Maybe her mom was right, maybe confiding in someone in the little, unimportant things could help with her anxiety. She’d have a new perspective to consider while dealing with her emotions and it could offer a place to vent should she need it. Sure, a school hall wasn’t the best place to do that, but maybe it was a good place to start. After all, it was where she actually started speaking to Kimberly, and that seemed to turn out fine.

She retreated from her locker, taking some books with her. Looking at Zack, she let out a defeated sigh. “She may or may not have had dinner with us. During which she may or may not have debated biology of various forest animals with Ivy. And I may or may not have been low-key impressed with her ability to withstand Ivy’s glare and to keep up with Ivy’s intelligence and Harley’s sense of humour.”

“Aww,” Zack cooed with a proud look on his face, “ look at that, my Crazy Girl’s growing up! Ready to spread her wings and fly off into a new relationship. I’m so, so proud of you, my young padawan.”

“Will you shut up!” Trini hissed. She glanced around them to make sure no one was paying them any attention. “I’m not a Jedi, I’m Sith!”

“Yeah, right,” the boy scoffed. Then a smile overtook his face again. “With Diana as your mom, with your moral compass and with the goodness in your heart, you’d make an excellent Sith… It’s just—I’m so proud of you! My Tiny is really getting ready to go out there!”

“Stop it!” she growled this time. “Nothing’s happening, you can stop acting like a character on a Disney Chanel show.”

“Hey, you said you were impressed with her!”

“Low-key. And only mildly.”

“Don’t play coy with me, Tiny! I know you!” his face lit up like a Christmas tree. “You like her!”

She slapped his shoulder. “Can you say that any louder? I don’t think they heard you on the other side of the school!”

“Chillax, I told you, no-one cares about sexual orientation here.”

“Perhaps, but I don’t need your big mouth to scream it from the rooftops.”

“Like your flannel shirts and beanies need my help getting the point across.”

Trini was about to retaliate with a witty remark about how her clothes were not a sexuality statement when her attention shifted towards a strange commotion down the hall. People dropped the conversations and stopped whatever they were doing in favour of watching the newest school drama.

Not long after, a clearly annoyed, bordering on angry, Kimberly Hart rushed into the corridor with a quick, sure step and trailing after her was a desperate-looking Ty Flemming.

“C’mon, baby, don’t do this!” Ty pleaded for the whole hallway to hear.

“For the last time, I’m not doing anything! I did it more than two months ago! It’s just your brain’s fault that you’re catching up to it now!”

“But baby—”

“Don’t ‘baby’ me!” Kimberly whirled around to face him, the speed of her walk giving her enough momentum to make it look almost too fast. The boy seemed surprised by that turn of events, as he not only stopped walking, he even stumbled backwards a little. Although he was taller than her, Kimberly was pretty much towering over him, with her body lean and taunt and her eyes darkened by the flashes of anger. “You lost the right to call me that a long time ago!”

“Don’t be a bitch, Kimmy, come back to me! We had so much fun together!”

“Trying to cop a feel behind the bleachers during lunch isn’t fun, Ty! And that’s all you ever did with me!”

“I took you out to dates! I gave you flowers once! What more do you want?”

At that moment, Kimberly performed the biggest, most obvious eye-roll Trini’s ever seen. “Do everyone a favour and shut up! You’re just embarrassing yourself right now.”

“Kimmy, you still love me! Look, if it’s attention you want, I’ll give it to you, okay? I’ll give you all the attention you want! Under the bleachers, in my car, wherever!”

Kimberly didn’t answer. Instead, she turned around and started walking away.

“Oh, c’mon! What else do you want?”

“We are not doing this here, Ty!” the cheerleader proclaimed. “Actually, we are not doing this at all! I broke up with you more than two months ago! I haven’t changed my mind since then and I’m not going to change it just to save you from the embarrassment or to please the crowd! So don’t!”

Ty gave up on his desperate pleading. “Why? Why are you breaking up with me?”

“I broke up with you,” it seemed like Kimberly couldn’t stress the past tense enough, “because of various reasons, none of which I expect your tiny brain and binary emotional spectrum to understand!”

“What? I don’t have binary—whatever that was! What does it even mean?”

“It means that you only think about two things, Ty, and I am not able nor willing to provide you with them!”

“Kimmy, just tell me why you’re doing this!”

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Kimberly stopped in her tracks again, only a few feet away from where Trini and Zack stood. The cheerleader took a short moment to just breathe—Trini supposed she needed that to calm herself down enough not to strangle the jock upon seeing him—then she turned to look at Ty. “Because the only two things you think about are sex and football, and anything else is just a load of bullshit to you! And that includes intelligence and emotion! Not once did you care how I felt, besides horny, which—newsflash!—I never was with you! And holding an actual conversation with you is impossible!”

“You’re not supposed to care about that shit!”

“But I do!”

“No, you don’t! You’re a cheerleader, you should care about me being a football player and looking good!”

Kimberly crossed her hands on her chest. “Can you be even more of a moron or did you just reach your biological limit?”

Ty huffed out a breath of air. He then puffed out his chest and moulded his face into a strange grimace that he probably thought made him look manly or attractive or whatever. “Just drop the act, Kimmy. I’m the best you can have in this shitty town! I’m a football player, I mean something, I have money and we look good together!”

“More like you are just a player, you have too high of an opinion of yourself, your daddy has money, not you and I don’t care for being your arm-candy! Not only you’re stupid and cannot grasp the base human feelings, but you’re also inconsiderate, ignorant and disrespectful! I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life!”

“Oh, yeah?” the football player challenged. “When was I disrespectful? I drove you to dates, I got you chocolates on your birthday!”

“You never cared for what I thought, where I wanted to go! You flirted with other girls when I was there! You forgot my birthday for three weeks! And the worst? You cheated on me! Repeatedly. Yeah, I know about that! I know about every single chick you fucked! How respectful was that to me? To them?”

A strange look crossed Ty’s face. For a moment, Trini thought he would try and hurt Kimberly in some way. But he only puffed out his chest even more, until he looked like a rooster on a trash-pile and a look of self-assured confidence settled on his face. “There is no better guy for you, Kimmy! Might as well say you’re sorry for this shitshow and come back to me.”

“Okay, no. I’m not doing this. We are over. I don’t care when your brain decides to catch up on that and I don’t wanna know. Don’t call me. Don’t talk to me. Don’t come near me.”

“Kimmy—”

“Stop! You’ve already made a fool of yourself in front of the whole school, save what little is left from your dignity, if you ever even had that in the first place, and just leave. And for your sake, if you ever get a girlfriend again, beg her forgiveness where you’d beg her to fuck you—in private!”

Kimberly turned around and stormed down the hallway and away from view. Ty stood there, watching her. Then, after a pregnant, thick moment, he also scrammed with his head held high and an angry look in his face. Trini strongly doubted it was because he actually lost his girlfriend, though.

When the argument dissolved and there was no more drama to watch, the kids around the hallway returned to their business. That, unfortunately, included Zack. He turned to face Trini with a shit-eating grin on his face like he just won a lottery or something.

“Seems like your chances of getting a Kimberly Hart-shaped girlfriend have improved!”

“Yeah, like I’d want that,” Trini scoffed, completely ignoring—or trying to, at least—that strange tingling that spread through her body as his words. Kimberly Hart, as her girlfriend. A cheerleader, mean girl, one of the core members of the Sisterhood of Evil, as her girl. That was so not happening. “Haven’t you heard her? So high-maintenance.”

“At least you know she’s got standards.”

“Very straight ones.”

“You know, she does favour that bisexual leather…”

“Leather is not bisexual, it’s badass. And shows off her curves.”

“Aha!” Zack laughed victoriously. He couldn’t even manage the decency of foregoing pointing his finger at her. “You do like her!”

She glared at him. “I merely find her aesthetically pleasing, that’s all. She’s too…extra for my taste.”

“True,” Zack hummed. “So, what now?”

“What do you mean?”

“What are you going to do about Kimmy dearest?” as he said it, Zack wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Trini chose not to comment on the gesture. “What’s there to do? I don’t have many options. Not like it matters, anyway.”

“Oh, my little Tiny! It matters! And there are so many things to do!”

“Yeah, like what?”

Zack grinned, ignoring the doubtful tone of Trini’s voice. “Girlfriend her!”

“Alright, shut up, homeboy! It’s not funny!”

“It’s not meant to be funny!” he protested. “As your lesbro and wingman, it’s my duty to help you put that lady boner into a pretty lady, and Kimberly would do for a very pretty lady.”

“Okay, first: ugh, disgusting! Second: stop with that lesbro thing! Third: I don’t need a wingman! What I need is to get into my biology class on time! What I need are some new books. What I need is for you to stop being such a pest and leave me to my nice, drama-less life!”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Drama-less? You really wanna go there?”

Well, he might have a point there, Trini admitted to herself. After all, drama was just life with all the boring parts cut off, and there wasn’t much boredom in Trini’s life between the constant moving, bullying and trying to cut it as Diana Prince’s daughter. “It has been drama-less since we came here?”

“Oh, yeah. You told your teacher off on your first lesson with him—check. You got a panic attack in your first weeks—check. You had the HBIC Kimberly Hart be a dear and help you through the panic attack—check. The same HBIC Kimberly Hart asked you for tutoring in your favourite subject—check. The same HBIC Kimberly Hart was flirting with you yesterday—check. Pretty drama-less.”

Trini closed her locker a little bit too aggressively, to which the locker protested with an angry, metal sound that made her flinch.

“She wasn’t flirting with me.”

“Right. Of course, she wasn’t. And what would you call how she spoke to you during lunch?”

“We only agreed on time and place for the tutoring.”

“Uh-huh,” Zack grumped sarcastically. “It sounded more like you were agreeing on a date.”

“You really are delusional,” Trini remarked dryly. “All right, you know what? I’m not having this conversation with you. There is nothing going on between Kimberly and I, so get that out of your head. Forget it, not gonna happen. Nunca. I’m going to go to class and you—do whatever it is you do.”

With that, Trini left her locker, and Zack with it, in favour of the science wing.

She was speed-walking down the main hall in the science wing—she didn’t have much time and Mr Oakwood didn’t tolerate latecomers—when she heard something from the girl’s bathroom that caught her attention. She stopped, unsure. She should just leave, it was nothing, just girls doing some girly things. Maybe someone just dropped their eye-shadows or something. She should go to her class, the smart part of her brain told her as it focused on making her legs move.

But her body didn’t move. It was like she was rooted to the floor, frozen on spot, and no amount of willpower could get her to move. Like she, subconsciously, knew she should actually stay; like there was something that needed her in this very spot. It was something she couldn’t begin to understand, let alone try to explain.

She forced herself to start walking in the direction of the classroom. One step. Then another, and another, until she was half-way down the hall. That’s when she heard the door open sharply, letting out a loud ‘thud’ as it hit the wall. The sound made Trini jump slightly and turn around. She could see Kimberly walking out of the bathroom, with Amanda and Rebecca in tow.

“You need to get back with him, Kimmy!” Amanda declared loudly. Her voice echoed uncomfortably around the empty hall and made Trini’s jaw clench instinctively.

A loud ‘Nope!’ was the only response Kimberly offered.

“It’s your reputation at stake!”

“I’m a cheerleader, my reputation is safe without that man-child!”

“You’ll be better of with him! He’s a quarterback, and besides Jason, Ty is the best option for you! So you either get back with him or you get with Jason, that’s the best thing for you!”

Kimberly turned around to face the other two cheerleaders but didn’t stop walking—now backwards—in Trini’s direction. “Have you considered that maybe I don’t want what you think is best for me?”

“It doesn’t matter what you want!” Amanda dismissed with a wave of her hand.

“Of course it does!” Kimberly called back. “It ‘s the only thing that matters!”

“You’re crazy! He could get you places!”

“No! I can get me places! He can go fuck himself for all I care!”

“Kimmy!”

“I’m done with that, Amanda! I’m done with him and any conversation about getting back with him! So either you shut your mouth about it or I’mma spend my time with someone who actually listens to me!”

Amanda tsked and crossed her hands on her chest. “That’s not going to end well for you, Kimmy!”

“I’ll deal with it! Now, I’m going to go to class, so bye!”

Amanda protested, but Kimberly only turned around, lifted her hand and gave her the finger. That, combined with the leather jacket and tight, blackish-blue jeans that looked painted on Kimberly’s thighs made for a look badass enough to make Trini’s knees almost buckle. Trini’s mind reeled back to how her mom told her she should find a badass girl and girlfriend her. Well, Kimberly certainly is badass, and Zack did say she flirted with Trini…

No! That was stupid. Don’t even go there, Trinidad Maria Prince!that line of thought would only result in an unwanted crush and getting hurt.

“When Kimberly reached her, she gave Trini a small, bright smile. “Hey! Didn’t think I’d see you here!”

“Yeah, I—” Trini stuttered a little, muttering her explanation with an awkward smile, “—I have bio here, so…”

“Right now?”

“Err, yeah?”

“Oh, I have that, too! I’ve never noticed you there!”

Not surprising, Trini mused, She has noticed Kimberly in the class before, but she’s never had any reason to talk to her.

“I usually sit at the back.”

“Ah. That’s why. At least now I’ll know where to look when we’ll need lab partners,” Kimberly winked with that damned smirk now plastered on her face. And as they walked down the hall and towards their classroom, Trini couldn’t for the life of her remember why she’d ever think that being lab partners with Kimberly would be a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s all for today! 
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter. If you did, let me know down in the comments or come yell at me on my [Tumblr](https://justalittlewritingnerd.tumblr.com/). And if you didn't, please do the same!
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


	15. Ooh, a cheerleader!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks!
> 
> I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long. The past six weeks were crazy, between studying, exams, family reunions and job-hunting, and to be honest, I haven’t really found the time to write. But the good news is that I passed all my exams, so I’m now officially a teacher of English language and literature and European history. And, more good news, I managed to scrape together a chapter! 
> 
> Since I’m ranting a little, I’ll say it here. I would love to get back to my original a-chapter-every-two-weeks schedule; however, my free time is working against me. I need to make some more money than my current on-and-off job gives me, and unfortunately, I can’t yet post my original project on Amazon or anywhere, since it’s not even half-way finished. What I’m trying to say is that my days are pretty filled up with stuff I don’t enjoy doing and I can’t get a lot of writing done these days, so I’m not sure when the next chapter comes out. 
> 
> But enough of that! Here’s the actual chapter!

Trini loved her aunts dearly and would never say no to spending time with them. Still, when it was time for her mom to get back home from Tokyo, she was beyond happy. There was a part of her that was sad because with her mom home, Harley and Ivy wouldn’t have a reason to stay longer. There was also a part of her that felt guilty because she should probably be sadder that her aunts would be leaving again for who knows how long. But overall, she was happy. Extremely so.

Of course Harley pouted when it was decided that no, they were not going to take the Mustang to San Francisco to pick Diana up—she pouted even more when Ivy said Harley wouldn’t drive the Mustang even if they were to pick Diana up—but she quickly cheered up when Ivy promised to make chicken tamales for dinner.

They were half-way through making dinner, Trini in charge of the soup—some Greek vegetable one that Ivy claimed Diana loved—Ivy in charge of the main course and Harley in charge of putting on silly cartoons on the TV when the doorbell rang. Trini frowned at the hallway in confusion. Nobody ever came to visit, except for Zack, and he usually didn’t announce himself in such an ordinary manner as ringing a doorbell. And Diana sure wouldn’t ring when entering her own house. But who…

Ivy watched with careful worry in her eyes and the longest of the Prince household’s knives firmly in hand, as Harley stood up and went to open the door. There was a sound of surprise from the blonde, somewhere between a squeal and a gasp, then a soft chuckle, and then Harley skipped into the living-room with a pleased smirk on her face.

“Hey, Little Tiger, it’s fer you!”

Trini and Ivy exchanged confused looks. Trini then went for the door, a frown still in place. When she passed Harley at the staircase, her view of the wide-open door became clear. She had to fight with herself not to let the surprise she felt upon actually seeing the visitor show on her face.

There, at the front porch of the Prince household stood Kimberly Hart. It was the same Kimberly from school, with the same leather jacket and tight jeans. The same Kimberly with the same sneakers on her feet and with the same black t-shirt hanging from her shoulders.

Except it wasn’t the same Kimberly. It wasn’t, because this Kimberly had no make-up on her face, her shoulders were tense and her hair, dishevelled and messy, was hanging around her face in strands that barely reached her shoulders.

And, damn, Trini almost had a gay panic moment because yes, Kimberly was pretty before, beautiful even, but like this, it was…

That was until she noticed the unshed tears in Kimberly’s brown eyes and the tear marks on her cheeks.

“H-hey. I’m sorry to just drop in on you,” Kimberly said, or rather breathed out, her voice surprisingly firm for someone who was on the verge of crying. “In my defence, I did text you. But you never texted back, so I thought I’d—I don’t know, see if you were available?”

“It didn’t occur to you that I might be busy?” Trini shot back, voice emotionless.

A strange look of both sadness and resolution passed over Kimberly’s face, her lips turned down a little and the muscles in her neck strained for just a second. Then she straightened her back, set her chin up high and quirked an eyebrow at Trini. “Are you?”

Trini was about to respond, though she didn’t know what exactly she was going to say, when Harley’s head popped up in her peripheral vision, almost giving her a heart attack in the process.

“Hey, Ivy says to either invite your girl in or close the door in her face. She’s goin’ all ‘not even the venus traps will catch all the flies!’ so I’d do somethin’ about it if I was you. Oh, and Kim, I hope you like Mexican! And chicken!” With that, the blonde was gone like a fart in the wind, leaving an uneasy Trini and Kimberly with a half-smile on her face, standing at the door.

Trini finally shrugged and stepped away from the doorway. “I guess that’s a come in, then.”

Kimberly did, head lowered somewhat and a shy smile on her lips. Trini walked her to the living-room, to show Ivy who their guest was more than anything. The redhead regarded them with an unreadable look, one eyebrow quirked ever so slightly, one corner of her mouth turned upwards in that all-knowing smirk of hers. She answered Kimberly’s polite greeting with one of her own—which Trini had to admit was surprising, considering Ivy’s usual behaviour towards strangers—then she pointed a fork at her niece. “This does not release you from kitchen duties!”

“But—”

“No buts, your mother is coming back home after six days away and that deserves something, don’t you think? Now, if you’d kindly return your attention to the soup, I would appreciate it. It will have a tough time cooking itself.”

Trini huffed but went to check on the soup anyway. She just got to the stove when she heard Kimberly’s nervous voice. “Oh! You’re busy, you should have said so. I’ll, eh, leave you to it, then.”

“Sit down, Kimberly!” Ivy said, sternly but gently at the same time. When Kimberly gave her a confused, and somewhat scared look, Ivy continued. “You came here for a reason. You look like you don’t want to be alone, and with three people here, with two more on the way, you won’t be alone here. So just… sit down. Have dinner with us. It didn’t kill you the first time.”

Trini turned her back to the room to hide her surprise. She suspected Harley had a hand in Ivy’s insight, as the redhead was never quite caring when it came to strangers. Besides, there was no way Ivy could read a person’s needs like that. Ivy was the distant, cold, clueless person who could always somehow tell when a plant needed this or that but could never understand emotional clues if they were peeled and placed in front of her on a silver plate—unless it involved her family, that is.

“I guess I should see if the second time will be as lucky,” Kimberly remarked with a sheepish grin that carried traces of her usual confidence.

They were plunged into silence, only disturbed by the sounds of Harley’s cartoons and the cooking. It felt strange, Trini thought as she got back to making the soup, how Kimberly’s presence just seemed okay in their kitchen. Almost like Zack’s usually did, but there was something different about the cheerleader. That sweet, spicy scent that always accompanied Kimberly and was, in Trini’s mind, an important part of her, was now slowly taking over the kitchen and forcing its way into Trini’s nose even through the scents of the cooking food. It was a small detail, something that only registered at the back of her mind. Still, it was present and it made something in Trini’s chest flutter funnily with every breath she took.

“Soooo,” Harley started, her voice easy, from her spot on the couch. “Kim. How’s school?”

“Standing,” answered Kimberly with a playful smile. It drew a chuckle from Harley. Perfect, Trini thought, if she managed to charm Harley, she’d be one step closer to charming Ivy, and then Trini would be the victim of endless teasing. The only saving grace was Diana, and Kimberly was already on her way to charming her, too, seeing as it was the head cheerleader herself who handled Trini’s panic attack. Great. Just great.

“You’re a funny one,” Harley remarked.

“I’ve been called a bunch of things, but funny was not one of them.”

“What were you called?”

“Eh, mostly rude, stubborn, willful, crazy, extra… and a few other things I’d rather not name,” Kimberly shrugged with a nonchalance that Trini found herself admiring. She could imagine what evil and vile names Kimberly had to endure people calling her and to take those things in a stride like she seemed to have done was something Trini never considered possible.

Harley hummed sympathetically. “Are you in a sports club or some other extracurricular activity?”

“I’m a cheerleader, actually.”

“Ooh, a cheerleader!” Harley looked at Trini meaningfully. “You must be very… flexible.”

Kimberly let out a nervous chuckle. “I guess.”

“I am a gymnast myself. Well, I was, technically,” the blonde continued like Kimberly didn’t look ready to bolt. “I imagine it offers the same, or similar, perks. Are you a top or a bottom?”

At that, both teenagers started sputtering and coughing. Trini choked on her own saliva and breath for a small moment. Ivy gave her partner a strange, stern look.

“I meant in cheerleading, you dirty witches. When you do a pyramid.”

Kimberly managed to get herself under control enough to wheeze out: “Bottom.”

“Hmm. Not what I thought,” Harley grinned cheekily, “but I can see it. That means you have strong arms.”

Before Kimberly managed to stutter out something, Ivy put her hands onto the breakfast counter with more force than necessary, even for the situation they were in, and glared at her girlfriend. “Perhaps you shouldn’t try and make our guest feel uncomfortable.”

“I was going for distracted,” the blonde shrugged, “She needs ta take her head offa things. What was I suppose’ ta do?”

Ivy’s lips pressed into a tight, thin line. She gave a somewhat uncomfortable-looking Kimberly a fleeting glance before she looked at Trini. “Dandelioness, you should take your friend upstairs, get ready for dinner. I’ll finish up here.”

Both teenagers recognised the gesture for what it was and they both bolted, with a quick hug and thank you to the redhead from Trini. They didn’t even make it fully up the stairs before they could hear the voices of Trini’s aunts from downstairs.

“Next time, try not to interrogate the poor girl!”

“I was just askin’! And what about the soup, wasn’ the kid suppose’ to do it?”

“That was the plan before you decided to act like an idiot and ask stupid questions!”

“Do you know who you’re acting like right now?”

“I’m sorry, Harley, but you cannot just probe around a girl’s head like she’s some psycho! She’s not your patient, she’s not mentally ill, you can’t keep asking when it’s clear that she’s uncomfortable! And don’t even get me started on those sex jokes, that was completely out of place!”

“She was clearly distraught, she needed ta take her mind offa whateva it is that’s eatin’ at her! What was I suppose’ to do?”

“Start a conversation, not imply that she's going to sexually dominate our niece! That was—”

Trini closed the door to her room, muffling her aunts’ voiced to the level where they could hardly be heard, let alone understood. She could feel the heat in her cheeks, and she found herself thanking all the deities she knew for her skin colour and for the fact that it could conceal the blush spreading on her cheeks. Well, it should.

Again, like the first time, Kimberly started looking about the room. Her gaze went over everything it could find. It would stop at some things, sometimes she’d even raise her hand and touch some of the stuff Trini had in her room, only lightly, only with the tips of her fingers, like she was afraid she’d destroy them. Trini watched, captivated—almost amazed—at how calm the girl looked, how graceful she was. She’s never noticed that in Kimberly before. Sure, she knew Kimberly was beautiful, only a crazy person would deny that, but there was never this level of calmness to her.

Or perhaps, Trini wondered as she continued watching the cheerleader, not calmness. More like sadness.

“Your aunt’s right, you know,” Kimberly said quietly.

“About what? You sexually dominating me?” Trini tried for a joke. She realised that it backfired very soon when Kimberly turned around to face her with a small, yet sexy and seductive smirk firmly on her lips.

“Yes,” the cheerleader purred, her voice low, confident. Trini swallowed painfully, suddenly cursing the very deities she praised only moments ago. Her mind was dead set on not trusting any cheerleader, but her body, oh her body already knew she liked this particular one. Her palms were sweating, she felt warm all over. She knew what it meant and she cursed it, and herself. This was not the time to feel any of these things! And Kimberly was not someone she should feel those things for!

Kimberly’s body posture changed suddenly. Her shoulders slumped, her face again adopted that almost sad expression. The mood in the room instantly shifted into a sour blue, and although Trini’s body was still humming with that strange warmth, her mind focused on Kimberly’s possible problems rather than her beauty.

“But not only about that,” Kimberly continued in a soft voice. “I—I really came here to get my mind off of things.”

Trini waited a moment or two, unsure of what to do. She wondered for a brief moment whether the cheerleader was even comfortable enough to talk about whatever it was that was plaguing her mind or whether she just felt the need to explain herself. If it were the letter, she didn’t want to hear it. Nobody should feel pressured into explaining things when they’ve done nothing wrong. So, when Kimberly didn’t elaborate, she offered: “You don’t have to explain anything. You don’t even know me, so… it’s okay.”

“I don’t know you,” Kimberly agreed, “but for some reason I—I feel like I can trust you. Like I want to tell you.”

Trini nodded for her to continue, but Kimberly didn’t. Instead, she turned to inspect the room further. She eyed the books and the maps on the wall and the toys and trinkets Trini had all over the place.

“You have a lot of plants,” the cheerleader remarked, eyeing the pots with different succulents and cacti and all of those small plants Trini had on her table and the windowsill.

“One of my aunts is a botanist,” Trini said, muttered really, like one would something obvious.

Kimberly went quiet again. She just looked at the plants and the pots, and the brunette suddenly felt like she needed to say something, like she needed to get her to talk. Trini remembered her first meeting with Billy and how she had to make the first step, or a few, to get him to talk to her. Maybe it was the same with Kimberly, maybe she needed to open up for Kimberly to feel comfortable enough to open up herself. But why did she want Kimberly to open up? She didn’t trust her, didn’t like her, didn’t want anything to do with her. Still, for some reason, she cared. She blamed it on Diana and how she raised Trini to be polite and caring.

“Mom and I used to live with Harley and Ivy when I was little,” Trini found herself saying. “When we moved away from them, I cried a lot. They visited often, every few days or so, but it wasn’t the same. I was so sad that I didn’t have two of the three people I loved most with me anymore that I couldn’t sleep. So whenever they stopped for a visit, Ivy would give me a plant. First they were flowers, with bright colours and scent that filled the whole room, later on, they were cacti and other plants that didn’t need as much attention and could handle a rough move or half a dozen. Ivy always said that—that the plants speak to each other, that they are all connected through the Green—some sort of energy that each and every plant on the planet is a part of. She always said she was connected to the Green herself, and that as long as I had a plant somewhere near, she would always be with me. I know it sounds stupid now, but the idea of it, of always having someone you love so close to you, it’s nice to have. And to keep.”

Kimberly hummed but didn’t say anything. She proceeded to touch the plants like she did the trinkets and toys on the shelves. She caressed them, gently, softly, yet without purpose. It looked like she just wanted to touch, with no other want in her heart.

“You’ve said the word ‘love’ twice in less than three minutes. I haven’t said it in three years.” Kimberly’s hand dropped from the cactus she was touching, but she didn’t turn to face Trini. “No. I did say it. I threw it around so much it’s lost its meaning. I love my friends, I love parties, I love this nail polish, I love that video… I didn’t really love any of it. Still don’t.”

Trini just watched from her spot at the door. Kimberly turned her head and looked at the wall, her gaze empty, distant. She smiled sadly, then her expression hardened and Trini found herself swallowing once more.

“I didn’t want to come here today. I called Jason, but he’s with Billy and I didn’t want to disturb their time together. I’d just be a third wheel with them, anyway. And besides Jason, I really have no one... But I’m glad I’m here. You have a strange effect on me. I enjoy your company.”

“What about your pack of cheerleaders?”

“I couldn’t go to Amanda or any one of them if I wanted to. And I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“I broke up with Ty.”

“Yeah, about two months ago.”

Kimberly let out a humourless chuckle. “You saw that, huh?”

“Together with half of the school.”

“Three fifths,” Kimberly shrugged like she didn’t really care. “And those who didn’t see it happen heard about it from those who did. It was embarrassing.”

“More so for him than you.”

“Maybe, but still. But he wouldn’t understand it any other way.”

Again, Kimberly went silent and again, Trini waited for her to speak. When she didn’t, Trini let out a sigh. They didn’t know each other well yet and there was no reason for Kimberly to trust her, no reason to tell Trini about her personal problems. Still, there was about an hour they had to spend somehow until Diana was supposed to arrive and until the dinner was ready, and Trini, for a reason unknown to her, didn’t want to spend it just sitting about in silence, doing nothing.

With a resolve that even she herself was surprised by, Trini pushed herself off of the door and took the few steps that divided her from Kimberly, silently looking for ideas, anything really that would tell her what to do next.

When shew as just one step away, Kimberly looked at her, surprised. Trini could swear she heard her take in a gasp of air at that moment.

Trini’s eyes fell onto Kimberly’s hair, hanging around her face in messy strands. She noticed the ends of them, all tattered and split and broken and uneven. Instinctively, she reached her hand out to touch the soft hair.

“You’ve really done a bad job with this,” Trini said, frowning. “What did you do this with, a chainsaw?”

“Safety scissors, actually,” Kimberly smiled sheepishly.

“Only you, Kimberly Hart,” Trini muttered, shaking her head. She let go of the strand she was holding and walked over to the door to her bathroom. “C’mon, I’ll do your hair.”

“Isn’t dinner supposed to be done soon?”

“Ivy just wanted to save you from the interrogation. You want me to do you or not?”

A sly smirk settled on Kimberly’s lips. “I have to admit, I wouldn’t say no. I don’t put out just for anyone, and definitely not before the fifth date, but I just might make an exception for you…”

Trini was almost sure not even her skin colour could mask the blush that she felt blooming on her cheeks. She growled, frowned and maybe even pouted (but the last one was never confirmed) until she finally spluttered: “I meant your hair!”

Kimberly giggled, her face lighting up like a Christmas tree. It suited her, Trini noticed, the carefree smile and the sparks in her eyes. “Of course you didn’t.”

Still grumbling, Trini led the other girl into the bathroom. She sat Kimberly down onto the edge of the bathtub, put a towel over her shoulders and took out the large pair of scissors she kept in there in case she needed to cut her own hair. She got to work in silence, slowly, softly, methodically working through the coal-black tresses. She enjoyed the feel of them between her fingers, the hair was like satin, it was warm and Trini found herself wanting to curl it around her fingers and tug.

“You’re good at this,” Kimberly hummed. “I was thinking of keeping it this way. Guess you’ll be my hairdresser.”

“I will start charging you,” Trini warned. “Won’t your cheerleader pack mind you having short hair?”

“They will,” Kimberly answered nonchalantly.

“Won’t you mind that they’ll mind?”

“Nah. I don’t care about them. Not anymore.”

Kimberly went quiet again. A pensive, calm silence settled over them like a blanket. Trini didn’t mind. She enjoyed it if anything. But Kimberly seemed to mind, as she started to fidget and shift on her spot, clearly nervous or uneasy, Trini couldn’t tell for sure. The cheerleader frowned here and there, her lips pouted slightly. The expression of doubt changed place with a pensive one on her face, and that then turned into a one of resolution so quickly that Trini couldn’t keep up.

“I’ve broken up with Ty before,” Kimberly said suddenly, quietly. “A year ago. But Amanda and Rebecca talked me into getting back with him. And I let them because they were my friends, you know? It didn’t matter that he slept with both of them on a regular basis, that they betrayed me. We were friends, it was okay. I didn’t want to put out so he needed to find someone else who would. And it was better that he had sex with my friends than with some strangers. When we talked about it, they said they were training him, making sure that when the two of us finally did it, that he’d perform well.”

Kimberly stopped, chuckled bitterly, like she was actually laughing at her past self. Her head hung lower, her jaw set. Then she sighed. “So I got back with him. And he continued to sleep with them. I didn’t really care, I didn’t love him. Hell, I didn’t even like him. People said we looked cute together and that’s what’s important, right? But I… I became possessive. Not because I wanted him for myself, no. But he—he was with me, so he was supposed to be with me, not with anyone else. So I slept with him. Because I thought that was the only reason he was cheating on me, and I thought that if I gave him that, he’d stop. But he didn’t. I gave him what he wanted from me, almost as much as he wanted. I let him fuck me at least twice a week, and I sucked him off more times can I can count. But he still went after my friends. He spent the whole summer with Amanda. I’m almost sure they had a threesome with Rebecca at some point. And I was left alone. My parents went away for almost the whole summer, my friends couldn’t be with me because they were fucking my boyfriend... So I broke it off. And now both Amanda and Rebecca are trying to get me back with him, my mother is bitching because apparently I am too stubborn and selfish and don’t want to do what my parents want me to, and I’m just so… tired. I don’t want to live like that. At school, there is a squad of girls who are always telling me what to do, at home, there’s my mother constantly telling me what to do and when I’ve had enough, when I did something about it, about me, everybody wants to kill me for it.”

Trini let go of the scissors and of Kimberly’s now done hair, which fell above her shoulders. She looked over Kimberly’s face, her tightly pressed lips, her slightly scrunched up nose, her hardened stare. She looked pained, Trini noticed, like there was so much she didn’t want to or couldn’t say, like there was a weight on her chest that she wasn’t strong enough to bare. And Trini, for some strange reason that conflicted with every the very nature of her logic, felt like she needed to help her.

“You mean your hair.”

“Yes,” Kimberly nodded. “When my mother saw me like that, she exploded. Said I was a bad daughter. That I am supposed to listen to my parents and my boyfriend, that I should stop acting like a stupid feminist and get back with Ty because he is from a good family and he’s the best I’ll ever have. When I talked back, she slapped me. So I ran away.”

“Do you plan to go back?”

Kimberly chuckled humorlessly. “I have to. I don’t have any money of my own, not until I’m twenty-one, anyway, so I can’t get my own apartment or anything. I don’t have anywhere to go. ‘Sides, mother will cool down. She just needs time to adjust.”

“And your dad?”

“Oh, he was pissed. At least in front of mother. He’s never liked Ty. But he and Amanda’s father are like brothers from another mother, they’re best pals. So he’ll be probably bitching about my friendship with Amanda for a while. But he’ll adjust, too.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Kimberly looked up at Trini and smiled. “Thank you. For listening. It helped a lot.”

And for the first time in years, Trini trusted a cheerleader. At least a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s it for now!
> 
> I hope you liked the chapter! Let me know in the comments down below or come yell at me on my [Tumblr](https://justalittlewritingnerd.tumblr.com/). I’m really happy when you do and I’ll try and get back to you on there! 
> 
> I hate you all, hoomans!


End file.
